

And owners should use technology that texts or calls customers when their tables are ready. Guests and servers also should use tablets that have the menu. He said area restaurants should offer Wi-Fi for guests because if there's no connection, then there's no repeat business. It's a good feeling." Irvine visits suburbsįood Network star and "Restaurant: Impossible" host Robert Irvine stopped by the Comcast offices in Naperville and also offered a private demo at Pirch restaurant in Oak Brook Center. Sure, I was involved with building buildings that are standing tall in New York, but this is a more simple achievement. "It gets my hands into the flour and into the dough. "This has been extremely rewarding," he said. "So far, it has been great and everything I thought it would be." But recently, he started delegating some work to his 14 employees, he said. Like many family businesses, he worked long hours at the beginning. "It's the perfect middle ground between a rigid, regimented traditional franchise setup and a straight up mom-and-pop store." "This allows me to tailor the bakery to the local community's wants and needs and allows it to become a true neighborhood bakery," Wu said.
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He operates what is called a "freedom franchise" model, which allows him as a local bakery owner to have the freedom to make critical business decisions on how to operate the bakery, he said. And I firmly believe that is a huge point of difference." "We have a classic stone mill on-site that we use to mill our own 100 percent whole wheat flour fresh daily. is a great fit for me as an initial foray into small business ownership first and foremost because I am super passionate about our product lineup," he said. He looked at various options and, since he enjoyed the breads at Great Harvest Bread Co., he and his wife decided to acquire a franchise in Hoffman Estates. Heather was from Waukegan and having family nearby provided more warmth and closeness, especially for their daughters. The transition from a major world-class city to a Chicago suburb actually worked well, he said, since it brought them closer to his in-laws. He and Heather and their two daughters then returned to Illinois in 2012 and settled in the Barrington area. His projects included the Bank of America Tower, American Airlines terminal at JFK Airport, Madison Square Garden renovation, among others.īut he longed to do something more, to be his own boss and actually to own something, he said. For about 8 years, he worked as a structural engineer, consulting on building design and construction.

Wu earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in civil engineering at University of Illinois at Champaign and then worked with a firm in New York. I come from a family with a history of entrepreneurial endeavors, I grew up around that mentality, in a sense." "But I had known for quite some time that I would eventually make a transition toward being a small-business owner.

"I certainly look back fondly on what we were able to achieve," Wu, 34, said about his later work in New York.
