Tom Ford, chief executive and majority owner of the 90-unit Stockade Cos. LLC of Taylor, Texas, is living proof that a job washing dishes can lead to the executive suite. As a teenager in 1966, Ford washed dishes at the first Sirloin Stockade Steakhouse in Oklahoma City. He continued working in various positions at the steak-buffet concept through college, including as night manager and cashier. He purchased his first restaurant in the Austin area in 1979. Ford became the majority shareholder when he and three others bought the company in 2004.
The company has three concepts and more than 100 units: Sirloin Stockade has 33 U.S. locations and 27 in Mexico, Montana Mike’s Steakhouse is a 27-unit casual-dining chain, and Coyote Canyon Steak Buffet has 10 units. Stockade Cos. recently moved its headquarters from Hutchinson, Kan., to Ford’s hometown of Taylor, which is about 50 miles northeast of Austin.
How did you get your start in the business?
I started washing dishes in 1966. I had just graduated from high school, and I was working at a TGY [five-and-dime] store in Oklahoma City. The guy I was working for moved to Sirloin Stockade, and he said he would pay me more money and make me rich someday, so I followed him over to the restaurant.
How do you distinguish your three concepts from one another?
Montana Mike’s is a casual-dining steakhouse with a northern Minnesota motif. The prototype is about 6,000 square feet and seats 203 with the bar. Coyote Canyon is an offshoot of the Sirloin Stockade steak buffet. It is a full steak buffet, and we operate 10 of those now.
What led you to buy Stockade Cos.?
When I went to work in 1966, I set down and wrote my goals of where I wanted to be in my life. One of the goals I wrote down when I was 19 was I wanted to own a Sirloin Stockade someday. In the goal setting, you draw out how you are going to get everything done. In 2004, I was already a 13-percent partner in the firm. The rest of the stockholders wanted to sell, and that was my opportunity to exercise that final goal.
FAST FACTS HOMETOWN: Taylor, TexasAGE: 60EDUCATION: bachelor’s degree in accounting, Central State University, Edmond, OklahomaHOBBIES: running, golf, ranching
You are in both the steak-buffet and casual-dining segments. How are you addressing the challenges confronting each?
One way is people. We have a generous management bonus program. We are able to attract and keep people. A lot of our managers have been with us 20 years, and, like myself, many of them started in the dish room or busing tables. Right now the food cost issue is a challenge, with everything continuing to rise. It’s been a challenge to keep our margins like we want them and still not price ourselves out of the market.
How about labor?
We try to treat our people like family. I’ve got one manager in New Braunfels, Texas, who has had zero percent turnover in the last three years. He also runs the highest-volume restaurant and makes the most money. I wonder if there’s a connection there? [Laughs.] He executes the system very well. He’s a great operator.
What do you say to those looking to restaurants as a career?
It’s a great, great opportunity for anyone who wants to get ahead. There are a tremendous number of people in our industry who have done what I’ve done, started in the dish room and are now in the boardrooms. The opportunity is there for anybody who loves the business and wants to work hard and stay focused.