SYCAMORE – When the new Pancheros restaurant opens in the Hy-Vee shopping center next week, a young entrepreneur will be the operating partner behind the counter.
Andrew Kemp, 24, is already part-owner of another Pancheros in Rockford and will be running the new store in Sycamore. He studied business administration and finance in college and at one point considered a career in finance or banking, but decided to go into the restaurant business with his father.
"When I graduated from college in a rough job market I steered away from finance because of all the problems in that field, like the economy and the scandals," Kemp said.
The quick-serve Mexican restaurant is scheduled to open on Tuesday, April 17, and will have a grand opening celebration the following week.
Kemp took time out from assembling a high chair in the new location to speak with MidWeek reporter Curtis Clegg.
MidWeek: Welcome to Sycamore.
Andrew Kemp: Thanks.
MW: Where are you from originally?
AK: Roscoe, in the Rockford area. I went to Hononegah High School.
MW: Where did you go to college?
AK: I went to Augustana in Rock Island, Ill. I studied business administration and finance there.
MW: What is your business background?
AK: My dad, out of college, did agricultural business, but then he went into Hallmark stores because my grandpa had them. So he owned five or six Hallmark stores for 10 or 12 years. Recently he got out of that and now he has five Jimmy John's in Rockford that he's part owner of.
MW: How many restaurants do you own?
AK: This is our second one. The first one is in Rockford.
MW: I read that the Rockford location only opened last October. Why are you in such a rush to open a new location?
AK: We jumped at the opportunity when there was a good location. We have Realtors in other markets, too. We also brought in two other partners so that instead of being just me and my dad, we can now open multiple stores, which is better for branding and economies of scale and sharing resources. …Actually, this lease got signed before the Rockford lease got signed, but since this was a new building it took longer.
MW: What can you tell me about your business partners?
AK: There is my dad, and a friend of my dad's, and the other is a friend of a friend of my dad's.
MW: Have you always been an entrepreneur?
AK: No, not really.
MW: Do you come from an entrepreneurial family?
AK: I think I got it from my dad, because otherwise I probably wouldn't have been able to pursue it without him helping me along the way.
MW: When you were applying for the franchise, was your age a consideration?
AK: No. If anything, they saw it as a positive since I have more energy. And since I'm starting out young, there is more potential to open more stores, and a longer period to be with them. …It is also easier to deal with the staff, since a lot of them are high school and college kids, so I can relate to them better.
MW: How did you decide on Sycamore?
AK: We literally just look at demographics and traffic numbers, and we have heard good things about the area.
MW: How many restaurants are in the chain?
AK: The first opened in 1992 or '93 in Iowa City, Iowa and they started franchising seven or eight years ago, and they just started to come out this way. …There are 50-something stores now, and there will be over 60 by the end of the year.
MW: How does a franchise work?
AK: You sign an agreement to abide by their guidelines and policies, and to use their recipes. It's very important to have consistent products from store to store. …You pay a fee to use their name and you agree to use their suppliers and their recipes. They will tell you how to do everything. Then you pay royalties, just like you do at any other franchise.
MW: Does Pancheros provide training as well?
AK: I trained before the first store, but nobody went out there this time. I am training them in the store instead of sending them to Iowa City. …I will have a whole new crew here but I'll bring a couple people down here (from Rockford) for one or two days in the beginning.
MW: What was the process for being selected to open a franchise?
AK: You have to have a certain net worth, and they have to believe that you will uphold their brand standards. They don't accept just anybody. They interview you and do a background check and see what kind of background you have in the restaurant industry.
MW: How much time do you plan to spend in the Sycamore location?
AK: I will be starting it up. I'll be living in an apartment down here starting it up. I have Rockford pretty well taken care of, so I'll go back and forth between stores once this one is up and running.
MW: Do you have plans to expand to other locations?
AK: We will get this one up and running and then we'll re-assess down the road. We own the rights to the Janesville and Bloomington markets as of now, but that could change.
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