Thriving during the pandemic
These 3 businesses defied COVID’S slow economy
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted businesses across Shelby County. h From employees working at home to social distancing and mask-wearing policies, it hasn’t been business as usual for most operations since the pandemic first hit in March 2020. h But it hasn’t been all bad news. h Here are three Memphis-area businesses that are thriving despite the pandemic.
‘I’ve truly never been busier’
“I’ve truly never been busier, it’s great,” said Shawn Sandy, founder of The Selling Agency, a Collierville-based sales coaching company.
Sandy founded The Selling Agency in 2013 to help businesses and organizations learn how to personalize selling without being a “sales zombie,” or someone who repeats the same pitch to each customer. Now she and one other full-time employee run the company in these unprecedented times.
Sandy said COVID-19 caused some businesses to step away from the sales training since they began working remotely, but by the end of 2020, she gained more clients thanks to connecting with them in a different manner.
Last March Sandy had to rethink her approach to clients, and by June she saw her business pick up after connecting with companies and teaching them the “strategy of selling” through webinars and assessments.
“I firmly believe that the companies that survive and thrive through this
pandemic are the ones that understand how to build not just their sales process but how to build experiences that are excellent at every single touchpoint,” Sandy said.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sandy said she traveled outside the Memphis area about twice per month to reach customers. Now she connects with most clients remotely, and she has more business than before.
She said due to her company’s sound strategy and ability to reel in clients with success stories, she increased her revenue by 15% from 2019.
“I didn’t necessarily think I would do better during a pandemic, but I knew that I would be just fine,” Sandy said. “It goes back to that strategy, belief in that I know how to reach exactly the customers that I want to do business with.”
Sandy said she expects The Selling Agency to do just as well — if not — better once the pandemic subsides.
‘We can either make excuses or we can get results’
State Farm agent Elvin Taylor improved his sales during the beginning of the pandemic, and by the summer he was preparing to open a second office at 132 E. U.S. 72 in Collierville.
Taylor’s new office is the first Blackowned State Farm agency in Collierville and he is the first Black State Farm agent to open two offices in Tennessee, according to State Farm.
“I didn’t even know that State Farm agencies could open two offices,” Taylor said. “Me and my office manager started to discuss the opportunity to open multiple offices, but we thought it would honestly be four or five years down the road.”
Taylor first opened his Memphis office at 5495 Winchester Road, Suite 10, in March 2016, and then opened his Collierville office this past January. He said the town will benefit from his services.
Currently he has a total of 10 employees working for him at both offices. Taylor said 2020 was also the first year his agency led Memphis in production of sales. The pandemic didn’t stop people from needing insurance, and he was determined to push through.
“We can either make excuses or we
can get results,” he said. “There were no different methods or anything like that. It was just simply that we’re not going to allow the pandemic to dictate the success of our business.”
Taylor said his business picked up by early March, and by the fall his company continued to rise partly because he and his team kept themselves accountable outside of the office by masking and social distancing, which enabled them to keep the office open.
He said his improvements during the pandemic also relied on two things: More people were buying life insurance and clients were easier to reach because more stayed at home.
‘We doubled our sales’
More people staying at home means more home-improvement projects — that’s something that has benefitted Versatube, a Collierville company producing do-it-yourself steel building kits.
Founded in 1994, Versatube started making steel hammock stands and then grew over the years to create kits for carports, garages, RV covers and other steel buildings. The company has around 200 employees with its headquarters located in Collierville at 50 Eastley St.
Versatube President Tim Soder said the business saw a major revenue increase by the end of 2020, although it took a small hit when the pandemic began.
“When the pandemic started it was another ‘oh here we go again’ moment,” Soder said. “For the first two weeks, we were starin’ at walls wondering what’s going on but by the third or fourth week into it, it was like someone lit a fire under our sales and we doubled our sales from the previous years.”
To better its income Versatube partnered with BITCADET, a national organization specializing in e-commerce, to create an online platform to sell the DIY projects.
Dusty Dean, founder and CEO of BITCADET, said people stuck at home are antsier which leads to a rise in home improvement projects, and “it’s exciting.”
Dean said Versatube’s online sales grew roughly 118% from 2019 to 2020, and Soder said retail sales doubled during the pandemic.
“Our sales have crescendoed to a point where at times we’ve had to do things to slow the sales down because we had a hard time getting people in the operation,” Soder said.
He said the company currently has employees working remotely and inperson but the business is working efficiently with who they have. Soder said he does not know what the future holds, but he hopes sales continue upward. Soder said never in his 27 years of Versatube did he expect a pandemic to help his company, but he’s grateful.
February was not a big month for restaurant openings in the Memphis area. Between the ice, snow and boil water advisory, it is no surprise.
Three chains did get restaurants open last month — two are national, while one is Memphis-based.
Here is a look at what’s new.
Captain D’s
9607 U.S. 64; (901) 386-4411; captainds.com
On Feb. 1, Captain D’s opened its 10th Memphis-area restaurant.
The new franchised location for the nation’s leading fast casual seafood restaurant is at 9607 U.S. 64. The opening makes it the 74th location for the brand in its home state of Tennessee.
Joe Springer, operating partner of Nufish, LLC, is the multi-unit franchisee behind the new Cordova location.
With nearly two decades of restaurant experience, Springer has become one of Captain D’s largest multi-unit franchisees since first signing on with the brand in 2009. Over the course of 12 years, Nufish has grown Captain D’s presence throughout Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee, with the new Memphis restaurant marking the operating group’s 19th location.
Open 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-thursday and 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-saturday.
Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers
4700 Poplar Ave.; (901) 590-2068; freddysusa.com
Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers opened a new restaurant at 4700 Poplar Ave. on Feb. 11.
“This is such a great area,” franchisee owner Tim Heeren said. “It is the best of all worlds — Poplar is extremely well traveled, it is near schools like White Station High School and the University of Memphis, there are businesses in the area and it backs up to a neighborhood.”
It is the sixth location in the Memphis area for this burger chain. There are also Freddy’s restaurants in Cordova, Bartlett, Collierville, Olive Branch and Horn Lake.
The restaurant chain is known for its burgers and sundaes made fresh to order.
Open 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundaythursday and 10:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridaysaturday.
Red Hook Cajun Seafood & Bar
1433 Union Ave.; (901) 672-8147; redhookseafood.com
Red Hook Cajun Seafood & Bar opened its seventh restaurant on Feb. 24.
The newest location for this Memphis-based seafood boil chain is in the historic Nineteenth Century Club building at 1433 Union Ave. The building was most recently a Red Fish Sushi & Asian Bistro.
The menu’s focus is on Cajun seafood boils. Guests can customize seafood boils, choosing from items such as blue crab, shrimp, snow crab claws, lobster tails and mussels.
The owners of Red Hook Cajun Seafood have transformed each restaurant into a space that feels like an upscale version of a Cajun seafood shack you would find in Louisiana. There are crab cages, fishing gear and even sharks hanging from the ceiling above the dining rooms.
The new location is no exception, but the owners want everyone to know they went to extensive lengths to preserve the historic building. All the nautical décor is removeable.
Open 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundaythursday and 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridaysaturday.
Jennifer Chandler is the Food & Dining reporter at The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at jennifer.chandler@commercialappeal.com and you can follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @cookwjennifer.