great challenges together... corey: we have five children. two of them are in heaven. lemonis: ...he struggles with giving her a say in the company. laurie, this is your project... -corey: no. lemonis: if i can't push him to rise to the occasion... corey: i'm not prepared to say, "some new guy came in, now it's different." lemonis: ...his grand plans will never get off the ground. my name is marcus lemonis, and i risk my own money to save struggling businesses. we're not gonna wake up every morning wondering if we have a job. we're gonna wake up every morning wondering how many jobs we have to do. it's not always pretty. everything's gonna change. everything. but i do it to save jobs, and i do it to make money. this... let's go to work. ...is "the profit." ♪ one of the things that appeals to me about nyc bagel deli is that people know it. it's been around a long time. -carlos: two dozen? corey: a dozen and a half, carlos. carlos: all right, dozen and a half. corey: yeah, buddy. lemonis: but i also know that bagels have unbelievable margins. carlos: thank you. we appreciate it. -woman: thank you. -carlos: gentlemen! men: thank you! lemonis: so i'm meeting up with the owners at their north avenue location to learn more. -corey: [ chuckling ] hey! -lemonis: hey. i'm marcus. corey: i know who you are. i'm corey. it's nice to meet you. -lemonis: nice to meet you. corey: yeah, yeah, yeah. this is my wife. lemonis: how are you? nice to meet you. you're the boss? corey: that's laurie, she's a hugger. lemonis: who's the boss? laurie: he is the boss. he's the main -- he's the main... -corey: i don't know. -laurie: yes. -lemonis: hi. how are you? -carlos: hey. how are you? lemonis: good. what are the types of bagels that you have? carlos: 13 kind of bagels, you can show them behind me. lemonis: i'm gonna have everything bagel. what do you sell one bagel for? -corey: $1.29. lemonis: what does it cost to make one bagel? corey: about 10 cents. -lemonis: in materials? -corey: in materials. lemonis: and another 10 in labor? corey: exactly. lemonis: so that's part of the beauty of being in this business. -corey: of course. lemonis: it's high margin. take your half. corey: okay, thanks. laurie: [ laughs ] man: what can i get for you today? laurie: now, i have a bagel every single day. corey: it's a good bagel. if it doesn't hurt here from chewing after a while, it's not real. lemonis: the flavor's amazing. i love the size. i love the weight. it's the consistency. it's a little overcooked. corey: in your opinion. i mean, we've been here for a while. 19 years. we're doing something right. people wait on line to get 'em. i don't think i'm gonna change the recipe just because you said it's -- you know what i mean? in all fairness. lemonis: when you invest in a business, you're investing in product, you're investing in process, but you're first and foremost investing in people. some are collaborative, and some are less so. i don't know if corey's open to change, but i'm gonna keep pushing until we find out. ♪ how do you think about what you put on here? corey: the fruit started off banana, orange, apple... lemonis: you sell a lot of it? corey: we do sell small amounts. lemonis: the front counter was stacked so high. it was bananas and cookies. i couldn't even see anybody's face. and by the way, none of the items were new york items. i don't even see cheesecake here. so this is -- i should not think about this as like a new york traditional deli. -corey: yeah. lemonis: don't pay attention to new york city bagel deli? why have italian capers? corey: you use probably a couple cases a week with your lox sandwich. so the rest of 'em sit here. we need one, hey, dump it in the thing. but i can't tell you the last time we sold one of these. lemonis: look, bagels have amazing margins, but it's the ancillary products that will actually build on to the size of the order if the products that are there are things that people actually want to buy. so what are the locations? we're on north avenue. corey: this is the original. and then the second one, which is dearborn -- dearborn and grant, and the willis tower. lemonis: like a kiosk? corey: yeah, a little bit more than a kiosk, but... -lemonis: not a full store. -corey: not a full store. lemonis: and then the revenue out of this location? corey: this is good for about $95,000, $100,000 a month. -lemonis: and dearborn? -corey: about the same. lemonis: and willis? corey: $50,000 a month. i want 10 more of them. -lemonis: [ laughing ] yeah. -corey: yeah. lemonis: the fact that the dearborn and the north avenue location generate over $100,000 a month is pretty awesome. i'm impressed that he's been able to accomplish that number with what i see. it tells me that the potential is massive. you're gonna teach me today how to make a bagel, right? corey: right now i'm gonna show you. look, here. come on. -lemonis: let's go! man: let's do it. lemonis: everybody's fired up about bagels. -man: let's do it. -corey: so this the mixer. it's giving you the consistency that will allow it to run through the bagel machine. go, look, right into that hopper. go. lemonis: i mean, it's not light. corey: go. throw it. there you go. okay, start. [ machine whirs ] there we go. it will go back and forth, and it will cut 4-ounce pieces of dough. it's gonna run through here, and it's gonna be formed into a bagel. lemonis: how long you been doing this? neto: 16 years. -lemonis: here? -neto: yeah. -lemonis: with him? -neto: yeah. i was taught by a gentleman who was a fourth-generation bagel maker. lemonis: all right, back out. let me show you how to do this. corey: look at this. we got a replacement for you. lemonis: they look more like donuts. holy [bleep] they're moving too fast! here, i'll try to keep them -- corey: now what are we gonna do? there's too many coming out. now to shut the machine! shut it down. shut it down. neto: there you go. there you go. corey: shut it down. there you go. all right. now, get 'em into the water. the water's boiling, and then we're stirring them up. you want to try it? -lemonis: yeah. corey: this is actually going to cook the outside, which gives us the hard outside, soft inside. it's the traditional new york style kettle-boiled bagel. and now you're gonna take as many as you can, walk 'em right over here, and dump 'em right here. there you go. dump 'em there, and let's seed them. go ahead. seed 'em. and these bagels are put into the oven. nice and easy. if we went to go look at this bagel and this bagel at the end didn't look good because it was maybe sideways, it's up to us to throw it away... lemonis: why aren't you making bagel chips out of all of 'em? -laurie: amen. thank you. -lemonis: you agree with that? laurie: oh, we argue about it all the time. laurie: i would love bagel chips to be mass produced. lemonis: why are you arguing about it? corey: because there's a lot more involved. you got to cut 'em, you got to put 'em in and bake 'em, you got to bag 'em. lemonis: her point is is that she has an idea and she's just trying to... -corey: oh, yeah. lemonis: we don't really need him for the bagel chips, do we? laurie: the bagel chips is a business of its own. lemonis: it could be laurie's bagel chips. laurie: it would be its own business. -corey: laurie and marcus. -lemonis: no, laurie's is fine. corey: no, no, take her with you. go ahead. laurie and marcus. laurie: i don't speak when you're speaking, so don't speak. okay. lemonis: the fact that corey doesn't see the value of reusing existing product to make more money just tells me that if it's not his idea, it's not gonna go anywhere. let's go to dearborn. -corey: yeah, okay. ♪ ♪ lemonis: walking up to the second location, the first thing i notice is this lame, dinky awning that, by the way, doesn't even match the first location, and looks like it was here 25 years ago. how you doing? -corey: good. how are you? lemonis: good. corey: what's going on? lemonis: this is a lot bigger. corey: it's a little different. lemonis: do you mind putting your coat on for a second? -corey: of course. -lemonis: okay. i want to just go outside. -corey: of course. [ horn honks ] lemonis: on a scale of 1 to 10, and this is just me asking, how would you rate your façade, the light, the openness? corey: i see what you're saying. a zero probably. -lemonis: yeah, it's dark. -corey: i'm glad you asked. lemonis: it looks old and not reflective of you because, i mean, you're -- -corey: aah! i got you. -lemonis: yeah. do that again. -corey: ah! lemonis: [ chuckles ] okay. corey: so look. let me show you something. this is the cooler. -lemonis: okay. corey: so i'll fill this up. lemonis: but there's no mixing machine. corey: correct. lemonis: so where is the dough coming from? corey: the other store -- after i leave you tonight, i'm gonna go over there, me personally, put the racks of bagels that were made today in the truck, bring 'em over here. lemonis: you could do that over here, but you don't? corey: yeah, and is it really cost effective to have another machine and another staff? and then you don't have the consistency. lemonis: if corey wants to grow this business, he's not gonna be able to prep, boil, and proof mass production out of the very small kitchen on north avenue. ultimately what this business needs is a commissary model -- a larger space that allows for the storage of raw materials, the prep of the dough, the boiling of the product, and the proofing of the product. and then it could be transported to individual locations in the chicagoland area, and the final baking process can happen there. the one big financial advantage to that is as he opens additional locations, they don't need to be as big. ♪ i'm marcus. -ray: hi. ray. -lemonis: nice to meet you. -ray: nice to meet you, as well. lemonis: is corey easy to work with? ray: he's a good man. knowing the type of guy he is and how kind he is, if you just break it down to him and let him know you need some help, he's the first one that wants to help. he'd make sure that the guys here are happy and they make enough money to take home for their family, and he might give them a little extra hours, and that's what makes him special. if you're not inside the doors with him, you'll never understand. lemonis: can the three of us sit down for a few minutes? corey: sure. lemonis: i always want to understand the people side of it first. i mean, why are you in this business? what's your motivation? corey: this is all i really have ever done. i started working at a bagel place that my father was working at in the early '80s in new jersey. and we went to florida with the first store and then even the second store. then i met laurie. from florida to here -- we -- we have five children, two of them are in heaven. they had polycystic kidney disease, and basically it's a disease that captures and covers your organs with cysts. but we came here because they promised us that there was a better chance to be on a list for transplant. so we literally left the house and the businesses. we rented a house here immediately. lemonis: how old were they when all this was happening? corey: my daughter was 19 months when she passed, and my son only made it a couple days, so. -lemonis: i'm sorry. -corey: yeah, no, it's sad. it's horrible, you know? -lemonis: i'm really sorry. lemonis: and your son, what was his name? -laurie: corey. and my daughter was corri. lemonis: how'd you survive that? i can't even imagine that. laurie: [ voice breaking ] when a child dies, there's like a 90 percent chance of people divorcing and it... -corey: it made us stronger. -laurie: ...brought us closer. corey: most people would have quit, but we had three other kids. lemonis: candidly, i am not a parent, and so i don't know what that feels like and can't even begin to imagine it. but even if i tried to imagine, i don't know that i could push through, and i give them credit for that. if i couldn't meet him and you were gonna try to describe him to me, how would you describe him? laurie: lovable, larger than life, very generous, kind, loyal. -lemonis: great husband? -laurie: yes. -lemonis: great father? -laurie: yes. -lemonis: good boss? -laurie: definitely. ♪ -lemonis: nice to see you. -laurie: hi. good to see you. -corey: what's up, boss? lemonis: my man, what's happening? -corey: good to see you, man. -lemonis: good seeing you. what is this chain you're wearing? corey: it's a whole solid gold bagel with diamonds for the salt. lemonis: where'd you get that? corey: laurie got it for me 25 years ago. lemonis: that's how long you've been in the business? corey: probably longer than that. laurie: you've been in the business since the day you were born. come on. it's in your blood. -corey: probably. lemonis: you're a bagel man through and through. corey: that's where it started. originally, the stores were corey's bagels. laurie: which i like better than nyc, but that's okay. corey: but i'm gonna come back to that, okay? corey's bagels for years and years and years. when we came here, it was new york bagel deli, which i'd purchased from a friend of mine. the name came with it. lemonis: you bought one location. -corey: i bought one location. -lemonis: and then you duplicated it and put it up again. why didn't you just call it corey's? corey: i left well enough alone because it already had a -- you know, it had a presence. laurie: i wanted it to be corey's. corey: laurie, stop. lemonis: now, don't do that to her. would you stop? did you bring your financials? -corey: i did. -lemonis: can we look over 'em? -corey: of course. lemonis: okay. north avenue -- 2015, $1,296,000 in revenue, made $152,000. in 2016, $1,335,000 in revenue, $181,000 in profit. let's look over at dearborn, which is the second location. that's the larger location. so in 2015, $1,255,000, made $191,000. 2016, $1,293,000 in revenue, made $210,000. dearborn and north avenues... -corey: yes. lemonis: ...both making money, and the willis location? corey: well, it's just a pop up. lemonis: so we'll just focus on these two. corey: i agree. lemonis: and when i look at dearborn, i say to myself, "how much more revenue can be drawn through there? how do i get promotional to drive traffic in? how do i make sure that when people come in, i raise the average order?" that store should do $2.5 million. -laurie: easily. -lemonis: not $1.5 million. but sometimes i meet people that say, "we can't keep the lights on," and we help them keep the lights on. in this case, it's about growth, not about survival. so my offer is $200,000 for 25 percent. corey: a couple hundred thousand dollars is not gonna make a difference here where we are. we're in a very good position right now with the stores. i'm very happy. and then honestly, i have to listen to somebody else for a couple hundred grand. i mean, you're making that face, but isn't that true? you're gonna put money in and not just gonna sit back. we're gonna go at things together. laurie: but anything he says would be an asset. corey: well, i mean, again... lemonis: i know where the market is in chicago for this product. i know how poorly branded the business is. i know what loose ends exist in the business. i know how poorly merchandised it is. i know where the margins should be. corey: i just don't know. i'm still thinking. i'm just being honest with you. lemonis: what are you thinking about? corey: you're not just gonna say $200,000 and i'm not getting anything. what am i getting? you're not just putting that in to say, "okay, this is what we're gonna do." i want to hear the rest of it. i want to see what all... lemonis: oh, you want my sales pitch? corey: i want your sales pitch. lemonis: i'm not selling you on anything. but i'm not opposed to putting in more money. sometimes if the business is really working, i may fund up to two times, even three times the amount of the original deal. corey: but i'm in a position right now where i have to really weigh it out, and there's just a lot more that goes into it. lemonis: $200,000 for 25 percent. -corey: and i said, "no." -lemonis: okay. so what's your counter? corey: we can't decide that at the coffee shop. that, we can't. lemonis: so, a week from now, you're gonna know more? what are you gonna know differently? -corey: i don't know. -lemonis: until we start going to work, how the hell are you gonna know? corey: i don't know. lemonis: i don't think that either of us are going to come to a deal tonight that you're gonna live with. do you want to determine it now? you said you don't want to. corey: i don't. lemonis: it's like, "okay." nice meeting you. corey: you, as well, sir. pleasure and honor. honestly, i mean that. thank you for your time. ♪ [ door closes ] lemonis: if your business is in trouble and you need my help, log on to... a former army medic, made of the we maflexibility to handle i dmembers like kate.ther of us whatever monday has in store and tackle four things at once. so when her car got hit, she didn't worry. she simply filed a claim on her usaa app and said... i got this. usaa insurance is made the way kate needs it - easy. she can even pick her payment plan so it's easy on her budget and her life. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa ♪ introducing a razor that works differently. the gillette skinguard. designed with a guard between the blades that helps protect skin. it guards against razor burn on the neck and irritation on the face. get the shave you've been waiting for. gillette skinguard. through the at&t network, edge-to-edge intelligence gives you the power to see every corner of your growing business. from using feedback to innovate... to introducing products faster... to managing website inventory... and network bandwidth. giving you a nice big edge over your competition. that's the power of edge-to-edge intelligence. 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