Red Robin and Wingstop franchisee Mike Axiotis

Take-Away with Sam Oches

Nation's Restaurant News

Business, Entrepreneurship

2.5 • 15 Ratings

🗓️ 19 November 2024

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with Mike Axiotis, CEO of Lehigh Valley Restaurant Brands, a Pennsylvania-based franchise group operating Red Robin and Wingstop. Mike has an incredible story of how he worked his way up from being a dishwasher in his uncle’s diner to being the CEO of a 30-unit franchise portfolio, and today he’s leaning into that lifelong expertise both to grow his restaurant company and to serve as a voice on the board of the National Restaurant Association. Mike joined the podcast to talk about how Lehigh Valley Restaurant Brands is thoughtfully expanding its portfolio, why he’s optimistic for 2025, and which issues the National Restaurant Association is particularly focused on for the coming year.

In this conversation, you’ll find out why:

In franchising, you’re betting on both the horse and the jockey
Your franchise decisions should account for where the puck is going
Consolidation should help the restaurant industry in the coming year
Restaurant associations offer a great resource for growing operations

Have feedback or ideas for Take-Away? Email Sam at [email protected].

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey there, welcome to another episode of Takeaway with Sam Ocas, a podcast from Nation's Restaurant
0:05.3	News. I am Sam Ocas editor-in-chief here at NRN, and this is the show where I give you an all-access
0:10.8	pass to the restaurant industry's most influential decision makers. This week I'm talking with
0:16.3	Mike Axiotis, the CEO of Lehigh Valley Restaurant Brands, a Pennsylvania-based franchise group operating
0:23.4	Red Robin and Wingstop. Mike has an incredible story of how he worked his way up from being a dishwasher
0:30.3	in his uncle's diner to being the CEO of a 30-unit franchise portfolio. And today he's leaning
0:36.9	into that lifelong expertise, both to grow his restaurant company
0:40.7	and to serve as a voice on the board of the National Restaurant Association.
0:45.7	Mike joined the podcast to talk about how Lehigh Valley Restaurant Brands is thoughtfully expanding
0:50.8	its portfolio, why he's optimistic for 2025, and which issues the National
0:56.3	Restaurant Association is particularly focused on for the coming year. In this interview,
1:01.5	you will learn more about why in franchising, you're betting on both the horse and the jockey,
1:06.7	why your franchise decisions should account for where the puck is going,
1:15.2	and why consolidation should help the restaurant industry in the year ahead.
1:20.0	Jumping now into my interview with Lehigh Valley Restaurant Brands, Mike Axiotis.
1:22.1	Also, don't forget to stick around after the interview, as I will share my four takeaways from this discussion,
1:25.1	actionable insights that you can take with you on the go.
1:31.1	Okay, I'm sitting down with Mike Axiotis, the CEO of Lehigh Valley Restaurant Brands. Mike,
1:37.7	thanks for joining me today. Hey, it's my pleasure, Sam. Thanks for having me. Okay, so does it sound
1:42.3	weird that I said that? Because one of the reasons we're talking is because you guys have rebranded.
1:46.6	You've slightly tweaked to the name.
1:47.9	It was Lehigh Valley Restaurant Group.
	...

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