Co-Founder & CEO @ResponseLabs (building the future of data-driven marketing) | Dad, runner, fisherman, high handicap | Growth hound using CRM + Loyalty
Aug 14 • 16 tweets • 6 min read
This restaurant made more than $60 million with ZERO locations.
For 20 years, they sold products from a chain that didn't exist.
Now they're coming back, and fans are losing their minds.
Here's how free "chips" created the most profitable ghost business in America:
1975: In Minneapolis, two unlikely collaborators had an idea.
Marno McDermott proved Mexican food worked with his Zapata restaurant chain. Former Packers star Max McGee owned the ideal downtown bar.
Full-service Mexican dining was wide open in the midwest.
Enter Chi-Chi's...
Jul 14 • 17 tweets • 5 min read
In 1958, two brothers put their last dollars into the American dream.
- They hired a Le Cordon Bleu chef
- Invented 48 international flavors
- Poached customers using genius marketing
Today? Their restaurant is worth BILLIONS.
Here's how it happened:🧵
In 1958, Al and Jerry Lapin created IHOP.
What started as a small restaurant turned into a casual dining icon.
The two brothers opened in Burbank, CA, literally across the street from Bob's Big Boy hoping to steal customers waiting in line.
Their strategy? Bright blue roofs to stand out from Bob's red branding.
