FSR November 2022

OntheRise

waiting rooms and build the restaurants that way. So your [third-party delivery] folks are just a little bit displaced in your restaurant,” Kramolis says. “That’s why we wanted to have the opportunity for them to walk up and a system to push it out the door.” Once Kramolis entered the leadership role, Rock N Roll Sushi implemented a number of initiatives to improve opera tions. This included platforms that assist with customer satisfaction and engage ment, operational checklists and train ing, local marketing, and menu order ing. The casual brand also added a swag shop to build loyalty and engagement— an area Kramolis wants to explore more next year. Additionally, the brand decided to open one corporate store in Destin, Flor ida, for training purposes and Discov ery Days. “I think it helps the corporate team in general,” Kramolis says. “You have to have that store where your own corporate employees can come in and do what they need to do and test things and work in the store and understand exactly what’s going on—everything from the guest experience to operations to marketing.” As Rock N Roll expands, it will con tinue to target the “regular folks” demo graphic that fueled its early rise, Kramo lis says. The CEOwill never forget a time when he stopped into a truck accessory store in Little Rock and was warmly greeted by employees who recognized his company T-shirt because they had dined at Rock N Roll. He’s almost posi tive they had never eaten sushi prior to the concept entering Arkansas. Kramolis calls it a revolution—and even likens it to the peak of the rock ‘n’ roll movement. “It’s nonconformist. It’s rebellious,” he says. “You come in and we can crank up AC/DC and Metallica and fry your rolls and have a really good time. And then I’ll see the same person come in that would tell me, ‘Man, Chris, I don’t eat my bait. I fish with my bait.’ And then he’ll get a VIP Roll that’s fried, nothing wrong with that. And I’ll see him three months later, and he’s eating nigiri.”

PUNK ROCK ROLL WITH SHRIMP TEMPURA, SPICY TUNA, CREAM CHEESE, AND STRAWBERRY

AVOCADO JALAPEÑO CUCUMBER SALAD

“You have to have that store where your own corporate employees can come in and do what they need to do and test things and work in the store and understand exactly what’s going on.”

ROCK N’ ROLL SUSHI (2)

Tropical Smoothie cofounder Eric Jen rich, who became so interested that he bought a controlling interest in the brand. Kramolis was named CEO in October 2020 following the transac tion. However, he remains a franchisee of three units in Arkansas and two in Tallahassee, Florida. “I do feel like it was a great fit. I live it and breathe it every day. I’m as commit ted as you can get as far as Rock N Roll Sushi goes,” Kramolis says. “[My stores] try to lead the pack in sales and all the metrics that everybody tracks. When you can do that, it adds a lot of validity to anything I do from a CEO perspective because I’mdoing it with the franchisees’ best interests at heart.” Rock N Roll Sushi has 60 locations in the Southeast. Units average about 2,000 square feet and come in two pri mary prototypes. The first is the subur

bia outlet, which is more family-oriented and comes with a smaller bar area. The second is based in urban markets, with an accentuated bar presence that caters to younger demographics, especially near college campuses. The goal now is to move out West. Rock N Roll Sushi plans to open stores in Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Colorado Springs by early next year. The Colo rado deal in particular is a 25-unit area development agreement with Kyle Ger stner, CEO of KMG, which also operates quick-serve Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers. His first Rock N Roll will feature a pickup window and a staging area for takeout/delivery. “I know almost all restaurants expe rience this, and Covid was the driving factor, [but] all of a sudden, we have all these delivery drivers in our waiting rooms, and some of us don’t really have

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