Tropical Smoothie Cafe owners Rich and Paula Studebaker. Photo by Paul Chin, Jr.
By Leon Garber
When the Navy brought a young Rich Studebaker to Hampton Roads almost 20 years ago, he never expected to find himself the owner of a growing string of franchised restaurants. It all started after he left the Navy and joined the Norfolk Fire Department. With his free time, he bought and grew a Subway franchise, taking his profits from that endeavor and investing them in real estate, buying and renovating houses along with larger multi-family buildings. He left the fire department soon after to focus on his burgeoning businesses. Studebaker eventually sold his very successful Subway along with a few larger properties and by late 2007 had started looking for a larger business in a different industry to purchase and grow.
After an exhaustive search that didn’t yield what he was looking for, Rich decided to return to his roots in franchised food service and bought a recently closed Tropical Smoothie Café in early 2009 that he believed he could re-open and turn around.
With summer quickly approaching and the bank eager to salvage what it could of the loan to the original owner, both the timing and the price were right. He quickly re-opened the café and hired and trained staff members in time for a successful summer season. As winter came on, Rich trimmed staff to match the typically slower period and started looking for his next acquisition target.
Studebaker teamed up with his longtime friend and attorney, Joel Nied of the law firm Williams Mullen, to purchase additional under-performing food service franchises. Given Studebaker’s experiences with both industry leading Subway and Tropical Smoothie Café, the concept made a compelling business case to franchisors, landlords and bankers trying to save an ailing location.
The team rapidly identified and began to pursue the acquisition of a local Quiznos that was soon to close.
Overcoming Hardships
All seemed to be going well, until one evening in February 2010 as he was getting ready to retire for the night.
Rich collapsed from what turned out to be a massive stroke. His wife Paula summoned paramedics and Rich was rushed to the hospital. Prompt action by Paula and outstanding medical care saved Rich from any serious permanent damage, but it was immediately apparent that he wouldn’t be back to normal or able to work for quite some time.
With Rich incapacitated, Paula was literally forced into the breach and got to work.
“From the moment I realized that something was wrong with Rich, it was seamless. I just went into survival mode and got going,” Paula said.
Fortunately, the staff rallied around Paula, helping her learn the routines. She also credits her strong bond and relationship with her husband for enabling her to be able to “sit back and say to myself, what would Rich do?”
In the meantime, friend and partner Joel Nied immediately took over the ongoing negotiations with Quiznos, the franchisee and the landlord. His efforts kept the deal from falling apart and avoided a setback to the Studebakers’ plans.
Rich survived his brush with death but was faced with a long road back to normal life. Amidst all of the rehabilitation and therapy, Rich managed to attend Quiznos’ new franchisee training and begin to assist Paula at the café. Often, his son Sid, 10, would accompany Rich and work as his dad’s helper.
“I had always hoped to have my son learn about work and business at the café, but I didn’t expect him to be taking inventory as a 10 year old!”
Rich credits Paula with not just running the business while he was recovering, but for holding the family together as well.
“I think I lucked out with her, she’s not just my life partner, she’s now my business partner too!”
By mid-summer, with his recovery almost complete, Rich and his team are looking forward to closing on the purchase of the Quiznos and an early fall re-opening.
Given its focus on hot sandwiches, the concept should be an complementary partner to the Tropical Smoothie franchise with a strong customer appeal over the colder part of the year, enabling the company to have steadier revenue year round.
Rich has prevailed through adversity that would have stopped others in their tracks. The team is stronger for the experience, with Paula on board as a true partner in the operations of the company. Poised to grow rapidly, the future looks tasty.
