We’ve all been craving our favorite places and restaurants where we gather with friends. You may even have your own Mother’s Day tradition. Today, we talk with Ken Miller, CEO of the Millennium Restaurant Group, about how “Stay Home, Stay Safe” has impacted local restaurants and how social distancing in restaurants may change the way you dine in the future. Listen today!

 

[transcript]

00:07 Lynne Jarman-Johnson: Money, I’m Home. Welcome in. I’m Lynne Jarman-Johnson, and I’m with Consumers Credit Union. And today, we are talking finance to fitness with someone that you know. Well, you absolutely know the places that he helps run. His name is Ken Miller, CEO of Millennium Restaurant Group. Thank you so much for being with us, Ken.

00:27 Ken Miller: Absolutely, my pleasure. Looking forward to it. Thank you.

00:30 LJJ: When all of this started, “Stay Safe, Stay Home,” and you run a restaurant that has people depending on you, and then the employees not only serving those guests that love to have that experience with you. Tell us a little bit about how you got started in the restaurant business, and then we’re going to talk about COVID and what it’s meant.

00:54 KM: I don’t want to say … I don’t want to start back when I was a child. But back in the late ’70s …

00:58 LJJ: [chuckle] You can.

[laughter]

00:58 KM: In the late 70’s, I was an attorney with mostly business practice, general practice, I guess, I would say. And my brother and I decided to start doing outside investment. A couple young gentlemen in town were looking to buy a restaurant in South Haven, which is The Idler Restaurant, which I still own to this day, 33 years later. They’ve gone on to other things. So, I had that, started buying other restaurants, but my main focus had been on other businesses, whether it was manufacturing, pharmaceutical testing, started a bank, what it was Keystone Bank, and moved on to those things. And over the years, I sold those or my interest in each of those, but really felt that I’d love the hospitality side of things. Certainly, it’s not because it’s a high tech, maybe that’s why I love it. I just like the hospitality side of things though. 20 years ago, I took a manager who had been already with me for about 12 years and asked if she would stay with me and let’s start what I call a professional restaurant company for professional restaurant people. Let’s quit doing this as a hobby. It is no longer a sideline. And she agreed, and from that, we went off and started numerous other units, Black Swan which is now Martell’s, Epic Bistro which is now Central City Tap House, The Union, as a jazz club.

02:27 LJJ: Well, I know from experience with Consumers, your catering division is phenomenal.

02:32 KM: That is a point of pride, there’s no question about it. And, which is one of the sad things about COVID, and we will talk about it if you like. That was about one time was a sideline and it has become a separate entity in and of itself, and the team there was really something we were proud of, but I can tell you, in one fell swoop, literally in one day, we lost an entire year’s worth of business. It will take us a long time to get that back. Those are the types of events, whether they’re weddings or corporate events or cultural community events, they’re planned six months to a year out. I don’t blame them because it’s been such an uncertain world right now, they have not wanted … Most of them have not wanted to reschedule at this time, but that event team is chomping at the bit to get back.

03:28 LJJ: How many people do you employ when you look at all of the restaurants and the focus areas that you have?

03:36 KM: Our maximum is about 550 at our peak, which would be during the summertime when The Idler itself is also running. At the time that the state mandate came down to close, they were around 460 or something like that.

03:51 LJJ: Wow.

03:52 KM: And we, at that point, that day, we had to lay off about 440 of them.

03:57 LJJ: You are talking with me at your office. Have you been coming in every single day since this all began?

04:04 KM: I have. I can tell you, I have not been in a gas station or a grocery store or anything other than this office and my home in six weeks, but I feel it’s necessary to be here. And, there are seven other members of the senior staff that come in every day. We did open five units fairly quickly for takeout. So, we still need chefs, and we were able to put back to work about 20 people. And the early part of being shut down, our focus was on survival and what are we going to do, and what can we do to help the employees that we laid off. And now that we’ve kind of stepped through that, we’re into, hopefully what I consider to be an up turn, where we’re actually starting to talk and plan for the eventuality of reopening. So, I’ve been coming in every day. We do seriously practice social distancing here. When we have meetings, we’re very cautious about it, but I have been coming in every day without fail.

05:07 LJJ: So as a leader, have you found that you’re having to plan different scenarios based on what will happen in the next week, then all of a sudden, month, then there’s a change? And how does that work?

05:24 KM: Difficult. [chuckle] In the early days, I’m not saying that I’ve gone through any other hoops than anybody else. I think if you would …  A hotelier, you probably have done similar things. The shock of the initial shutdown and the initial announcement was one thing, and there was some scrambling, there was several weeks of conjecture after that, talking to other restaurant individuals around the country, not just here in Michigan. Finding out that they were similarly situated in many, many respects, regardless of where they were, but it was purely speculation. Heavily dependent upon where society we thought was going to go, which is, Lord knows, very speculative; Where the state was going to go which is very speculative; Where the federal government … But as time has gone on, including today … We had a talk at our meeting today, where we actually started talking, still conjecture, but we think we’ve nailed down part of what we will be confronting in a couple weeks, and how we will want to handle that. Yet nothing’s definite until we’re told what’s definite.

06:38 LJJ: So as a restaurant owner, do you then look at spacing of tables? What’s the rules of when someone can come in? How will reservations change? There’s just so many little tiny things that you have to think of when you’re talking about social distancing in a public place.

06:57 KM: And each state again is a little different. I was on a video conference call yesterday with 12 individuals from around the country; 11 different states were represented, including Georgia and Texas, which Texas is opening up tomorrow or Friday. Georgia’s opening up now. Other states are staying closed through May. And the things that we talk about are, do we take the customer’s temperature, believe it or not, after they enter the building? What warning, I guess, a COVID warning, do you have to give the customer as they enter the building? Once they get in, what do they expect to see? And it will probably be tables separated. We’ll probably be restricted to anywhere from 25%-50% normal revenue, which in and of itself will be painful, but better than the 10% we’re running at now with to-go. What will be the PPE requirements for our staff? The list goes on and on. What’s going to be required to be disposable, such as menus, silverware … We may go away from regular plates to a more disposable type of dish. And we’re going to feel our way through some of that, but again, part of it’s going to be dictated to us. Some of it will be suggested to us by our customers.

08:17 LJJ: So how have you seen … You’re looking forward at the change. How have you seen the community step up?

08:24 KM: For us, frankly, it’s been phenomenal. I think I was in the depths of despair for a week or two when I just wasn’t sure what was going on, and then we decided we would go with this to-go right now. Again, that has never been Millennium’s main business. We have had to-go meals at a couple different units, but to really become based on to-go meals was a little intimidating at the time. But it is amazing that our friends, our customers, what was our base … And I think they’ve gone out of their way, probably not just for us but probably other restaurants, too, went out of their way to support us at whatever level. They have tipped generously, so that does help those individuals who are working for us. Businesses have done what they can to help us. Consumers was one of the first on the phone to us to say, “What can we do? What can we do as a bridge? What can we do just to help?” So that has been excellent.

09:29 KM: We obviously haven’t been able to do any catering, any large events, or anything like that, but we have seen … What is this, our sixth week? And every single week for six straight weeks, there has been growth in the to-go. So that’s a positive, and that, I really do think I look back and I know that I’ve had our regular customers who have gone out of their way, I think, to continue to support.

09:56 LJJ: And Consumers is really proud to be a business partner with you, Ken. And one of those reasons is because we do feel that partnership and community support is what is at the heart of where we’re all going. What I’d like to really hear from you now is, you have four hundred and some people that are your family, and I can tell that that’s what they are. You can tell by your conversation and how you run your business. What are you most grateful for in a time when it’s really hard because you’re just not with your family the way that you normally are?

10:32 KM: Their patience, probably, as much as anything. And I think anybody out there, after six weeks of quarantine, or stay-at-home, is probably getting on the edge of their own limits. But for these people, 440 of them, to literally take away their bread and butter, their income … We were given six-hour notice. At 9 o’clock in the morning, we were given ‘til 3 o’clock that afternoon to close 10 units and inform 440 people that they were done. And, most of these people didn’t see it coming, regardless of the fact that the pandemic was out there, it was in front of everybody. But, I don’t know if anybody really thought that this was going to happen.

11:16 LJJ: Who did, right?

11:18 KM: And the majority of those people, I don’t think had a week’s worth of savings there. So, we did what we could for as long as we could. That again, is where Consumers came in. They came in with a bridge loan that then helped. The federal government CARES Act and the PPP loan. And if you know anything about that, you’ll know that that was an absolute minefield. So, we are now in the process of … Like today, as a matter of fact, we’re going to reopen 600 as a restaurant for to-go. But that’ll bring back six more people. And, we’ll continue to do that. We will eventually start bringing these people back on to get the units ready: Scrub ’em, [12:00] ____ ’em, move the tables wherever we’re gonna be moving the tables, mark the floors wherever we have to mark them. So, there will be preparation jobs for many more soon.

12:11 LJJ: And like you just said, the patience of waiting, the not knowing, but yet having a company out there that has their backs, so it’s just been wonderful to talk to you, Ken.

12:23 KM: I had other things, a point of pride for me and for the company without even me knowing that there are seven people on my senior staff here that took a 75% cut in pay, never told me about it, with no guarantee that it was ever coming back. When I got the PPP money and settled up with Consumers, that’s when I was told that it had happened, so we were able to make it right. But to do that unilaterally without any guarantees, I thought was pretty impressive.

12:53 LJJ: Yeah, well, it tells what leadership is all about and the talent that you bring around you. So that’s a wonderful gift and a wonderful nod to you too, Ken.

13:03 KM: Thank you, thank you.

13:04 LJJ: Well, thank you so much for being with us. If there’s any parting words that you’d like to share about really, what’s coming down the pike and what you wish for the community, please do so.

13:16 KM: I think I wish for the community what most of us do, some level of normalcy. I don’t want to define that because I don’t think we will ever see what we have experienced in our lives before this. I think there will be a social and cultural change in many aspects, whether it’s shaking hands and hugging or attending events. When will we go back to that? But I wish the community could get back as soon as possible and do it in a very healthy fashion. For us, we do hope that when the 15th comes around, that the Governor permits us to move forward. That does not mean that on the 16th, frankly, we will be open. But we will at least be able to plan at that point, and we’ll know what the new rules are.

14:02 LJJ: Wow, I’ll tell you what. Everybody, do us a favor, and order takeout, would ya? [laughter]

14:08 KM: Thank you very much.

[laughter]

14:11 LJJ: Really important, it is the Millennium Group. It’s very easy to find. They have got phenomenal food and also obviously tremendous people who are helping keep that food being served hot, fresh and good. Ken, thank you so much for being with us.

14:26 KM: Thank you very much, stay safe and be well.

14:28 LJJ: I’m Lynne Jarman-Johnson. Money, I’m Home with Consumers Credit Union. Thank you so much, Jake Esselink for your help and your production skills, and we’ll talk with you next week. If you have a guest you’d like us to talk with, please send them our way. Hope you have a fabulous week, and I hope you have a safe week. Stay home, stay safe until we can get out there safe and sound.

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