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Mitsurugi-w

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THIS IS VERY OLD NEWS. I AM BACK LIVING IN NC. MOVE ALONG. NOTHING TO SEE HERE.

So I have some news and an announcement to make. This will affect my role here for a short period of time and most likely will affect the ability of me to perform arcade service for you guys. I'll explain below.


So as many of you know all work I do for the arcade hobby is done 100% after all of my real world responsibilities are complete. Many of you know that I currently own two restaurants in the Hwy 55 Burgers, Shakes, and Fries chain. This chain was started in 1991 right here in Eastern North Carolina where I reside. I began in high school in 1997 the summer before my senior year. I started dropping french fries and slicing onions for hours on end and eventually worked my way up to the bun station, grill station, and then be the end of the first six months I was running the store when the manager had nights off. I did go to college in Greenville, NC at East Carolina University for two years but I loved this company and the people at the top so much that I decided to drop out of college (never wanted to go anyways even though I was top 5% in my HS class) in order to pursue the opportunities that this company provides.

You see the very first day I went for an interview the manager, and good friend to this day (despite him being a horrible roommate for two months after his wife changed their locks on him, lol), told me "You could own this store one day." That was unexpected and somewhat unbelievable but very shortly after I began I saw multiple managers become owners of their stores. And what's awesome is they paid only $1 for the franchise name since they all began at minimum wage dropping fries and worked their way up. That's the beauty of this company. The founder and CEO had an epiphany one day. He was struggling financially with his first 5 stores. A voice in his head told him to stop making everything about him and make it about others. He then began to tell his people that if they can prove they can make money then he would sell them the store they are managing. The rest is history since that was the turning point of our company and the reason why we own Eastern NC and even have international stores now in Denmark and the UAE. Really the thing that makes this company different is the people at the top and the people in the stores right down to the newest fry guy.

I was a horrible manager at first. Shit, I knew everything, as every teenager does. Yeah I could cook faster and better than almost everyone in the company (and in my opinion the country) but my skills managing people, in a way, sucked. So I had many years of humbling learning experiences but I never quit and worked through every issue I had with positivity. On January 1, 2008 I purchased my first store. I basically only had to pay for the equipment in the store and yes, $1 for the franchise name. Later that year the opportunity came for me to purchase the other store in town so that the owner could move to Greensboro, NC and open u a new territory. So on Nov. 15, 2008 I purchased a second store. You may notice some significance in those dates. 2008. The year the economy basically crashed. Back then you could get a loan from a bank so easy. My interview for my loans lasted maybe 5 minutes COMBINED. I bought both stores with zero money down and no money in the bank. Just my promise to pay them back and a signature. It took about a year for the economic crisis to really hit Eastern NC but it hit us HARD. There were so many times I stayed up all night wondering how I would pay my people. Times like those really weed out the weak. Businesses left and right closed down but we scraped, and clawed and survived. I've been lucky to have staffs that care about me and the store and don't just see this as "just a job". It has taken literally YEARS to get caught up. If you fall behind on paying taxes it is nearly impossible to get caught up. But I have done it and I'm proud. I paid off both store loans in the past year and sales at both of my stores are the best they have every been and both of these stores were opened in the first 20 stores so that is saying something.

Sorry for my entire work history but I thought you might understand why I made the decision I did.

About a month ago the CEO texted me and said he would like to talk to me. He's done this before and usually it was him offering me another store. I had turned him down several times since I simply was not ready to own another store. I didn't need more headaches at the time. I needed to accomplish some goals first. I fully expected this conversation to be the same, after all there are stores in the area he owns that I could easily improve. Instead I was shocked by what was proposed. He asked me if I would be willing to take a position we have never had in the company before. He asked if I would be willing to take control of developing another state that was struggling to get off the ground a bit. I was pretty speechless as it blindsided me. Am I qualified? Hell yes I am. But I wasn't expecting the offer. After sleeping on it and having a few meetings at the home office I decided to take the job. Kenney, the CEO and I like to think friend, has never steered me wrong and has always delivered on giving me the OPPORTUNITY for me to succeed and achieve my goals since I was a teenager. My job at first will be to teach the culture of the company since it is so unique, train new management personnel from with our own ranks (the masters of the state like to hire managers from other restaurants which is usually a horrible idea), and eventually get the state back on track. It's about two to three years behind based on the number of stores to open in the contract.

So all of that leads to this announcement:

In August I will be moving to a new state. That state is Ohio.

I will be based in the Cincinnati area to begin with. We currently have two stores there and I need to get another 48 open within 6 or 7 years. My gig could be pretty sweet. I will have many more responsibilities but ironically I'll probably work much fewer hours than I do now. Just managing one of my stores full time sees me getting around 60 hours a week. I will basically only answer to the home office even though I will be getting paid by the masters, and I will make the final decisions on many things. Some of you may ask "why would you sell stores that are making you money"? Well my base pay will begin at twice what I made last year and if you include the payments from selling my stores, I'll be ok financially.

I will continue to be a daily presence on the site here. I will continue to do all the arcade stuff I do now since I love the hobby. I AM NOT LEAVING. But there will be a period of time that I need for moving and adjustment to living alone in a state I've never visited as well as get a feel for the current stores and staff. So there will be a period of time, could be up to a month, where I can't sell any products, do any repairs, or provide any services. The last two weeks of July will be pretty crazy for me. I need to move 25 arcade machines into storage. And pack everything up. Luckily I have very few possessions other than those machines. LOL. I don't care if I'm busy as hell for the next few weeks with arcade stuff but once I determine the date I will accept zero orders and some may get delayed a few weeks if sent in too late. I know some of you are used to sending me things and then contacting me about what you want done. Well, I recommend contacting me first until I move. :)

Well thanks for reading through all of my bullshit and please wish me good luck. I really don't know what I'm getting myself into yet.
 
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Wow, great post!

I say go for it! It sounds like you will do a great job.

If you do half as much for Hwy 55 Burgers as you do for the arcade comunity here, they have a winner on their hands.

So when is Hwy 55 coming to Vegas? I'm getting hungry!
 
Wow, great post!

I say go for it! It sounds like you will do a great job.

If you do half as much for Hwy 55 Burgers as you do for the arcade comunity here, they have a winner on their hands.

So when is Hwy 55 coming to Vegas? I'm getting hungry!
Thanks!

We are franchising now. Know anyone interested?
 
Mitsurugi will be down right fierce in the Cincinnati area. He will be dp-ing the shit out of management until they can withstand a super.
 
Congratulations Mitsu! I kept reading and hoping I would read California. Maybe for the next expansion?

Good luck with this latest adventure!
 
Thanks, guys. I wish everyone would complete their profile so I would know who else is in Ohio and where at in Ohio.
 
Congrats on this amazing job opportunity. It's actually a very nice piece you wrote.
Your knowledge, skills and additude are highly appreciated here at the forums.
 
Congrats Mitsu! Best of luck with the move and new job, it definitely sounds like a sweet deal.
 
Thanks for sticking with the hobby. Your services are invaluable. A lesser man would close up shop for good. Good luck!
 
best of luck my friend. I guess now I have to find some other local schmuck to fix my shit when it breaks. :P



I know it's far for you, but I really hope you can make it to Lost Ark.
 
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