A pandemic presents particular challenges to a hospitality company, whose business model revolves around getting people in the doors, but Stuart McLendon, chief financial officer of Dyne Hospitality Group since 2018, is proud of how his company has worked through those challenges.
The company, which operates 80 Tropical Smoothie Cafes around the country, aims to open 10-12 new locations per year. “A pandemic can be somewhat disruptive to that,” McLendon noted dryly. It also created two big problems.
First, the company needed to ensure its staff were safe and felt supported, so it implemented measures like hazard pay, paid time off for part-time workers and deep cleaning. “As a result, we made it through COVID with a core employee base supportive of the business and our company goals,” McLendon said. “We have had lower turnover as a result,” he added, and it hasn’t faced the level of staffing shortages other restaurants have experienced.
“The second big challenge was capital and development,” McLendon said. Dyne has traditionally placed its stores in strip developments, but those opportunities dried up with COVID. So it shifted “to finding, purchasing and developing our own stand-alone restaurants.” That meant a better operating result, but it required more capital.
McLendon spent more time fundraising and working on capital partnerships. The company found success and will have completed about 14 stand-alone projects by the end of this year with its new development company, Dyne Development, which he also serves as CFO. In addition, McLendon is CFO of Blue Flame Minerals, which creates and manages mineral rights investment funds. The three entities share some ownership.
His management philosophy is simple: servant leadership. “Business is a human endeavor, and the financial success of a business is dependent on the success of the people within it,” McLendon said. “By giving my team and coworkers the best possible chance at success, we create new options and opportunities for everyone at the table.”
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