In Memoriam: Tom Renfro

Tom Renfro

Known for being a hard-working, trustworthy businessman who treated employees like family, Buffalo Wild Wings® franchisee Tom Renfro died May 8 while preparing his restaurants to reopen after the coronavirus shutdown.

Renfro owned three Buffalo Wild Wings sports bars with his wife, Debbie, and brother-in-law, Ted Church, in Bloomington, Columbus and Seymour, Indiana. The venture also includes the Renfros’ daughter, Sarah Noakes. While theirs is a family company, even team members who are not part of the family often feel treated as though they are. It’s a characteristic of the way Tom Renfro and his partners operated each location.

“Tom’s management style was very hands-on,” said Debbie Renfro. “He worked in the restaurants along with the rest of the crew and never asked anybody to do anything that he would not do himself. He spent many, many hours in any capacity needed. He had a big heart for his team.”

After Renfro’s sudden death, his wife received a note from a former employee whose first job was at one of the Renfros’ BWW® sports bars. “I have so many positive things to say about Tom and the impact both of you have had on my life,” wrote the man, named Gary Smith. “Tom was the first person that greeted a young 16-year-old who had wandered into the temporary trailer that was set up outside the BWW building looking for a job. I connected with his outgoing personality immediately and knew it would be a great fit. Tom would always help me out with meals when I was struggling financially in college. These things I will never forget.”

Smith added more. “I learned that business owners should

be kind and generous to their employees, and these lessons I have taken with me into the business world and apply to my own staff,” he wrote.

Smith is now a certified public accountant, and his experience was typical of many who worked with Renfro at BWW. “He was a very giving person and was always quick to offer help or assistance to anyone that needed it,” Debbie Renfro said.

“Tom and Debbie operated their restaurants like family. I’m sure his employees appreciated his commitment to them as friends as well as employees.”

– Gene Stauffer

The Renfros and Church began their Buffalo Wild Wings journey in 2004 after Tom Renfro left his job as an engineer for Howmet, an industrial casting company. With previous experience in the restaurant industry, “we were really interested in Buffalo Wild Wings and started visiting restaurants all over,” said Mrs. Renfro. “We decided on BWW and then began the process of becoming franchisees of the brand.”

After qualifying, they bought the rights for two restaurants, successfully developed them and then opened a third two years later. Church said the partners loved the B-Dubs® concept and were willing to put the time and effort into their business. “He loved the brand, and he worked every day for it,” Church said.

With their growth, they soon became involved with the franchise system and met other B-Dubs owners who appreciated their experience and insight. “I met Tom and Debbie many years ago at one of the BWW conventions,” said another franchisee, Gene Stauffer. “We often sat together and talked about our similar businesses as we both had Indiana franchises and about the same number of restaurants.

“Tom was quiet, thoughtful but very friendly. I always considered him a friend and as one I could talk to about our similar businesses,” Stauffer added. “Tom and Debbie operated their restaurants like family. I’m sure his employees appreciated his commitment to them as friends as well as employees.”

“I met the Renfros when I became a BWW franchisee in 2007,” said Kevin O’Laughlin. “Tom, from the beginning, was very welcoming and open to help and assist on any issues or questions that arose. Tom always presented a professional and calm approach when dealing with issues. He would wait to present his thoughts until he understood the issue and then he would clearly contribute.”

Franchisee Robert Kelsey of The Jones Group may have known Renfro better outside of the system. They met during Renfro’s engineering career when Kelsey’s company was a client of Renfro’s company. “He was always very fair to our company and a truthful, trustworthy person to work with,” Kelsey said. “In manufacturing companies, there are some people you can trust and some you cannot. I could trust Tom.”

While he often joked with employees, he was also a very hard worker. “Tom always put work ahead of everything he wanted to do,” Debbie Renfro said. “He spent countless hours in the restaurants, and then would come home and work on mowing the yard. He has always worked more than one job from the time he first began working. He had a passion for the bar and restaurant industry and worked a second job for others before getting his own bar.”

That work ethic put Renfro at one of his BWW locations moving tables and working out floor plans when he passed away. It was just a few days before Indiana allowed restaurant dining rooms to reopen following the state’s pandemic shutdown. Typically, he’d been putting in 16-hour days, seven days a week, to get ready, his wife said.

BWW franchisee Brandon Jones also noted Renfro’s passion and work ethic as well as his kind personality and care for team members and guests. “Tom was the same man as he was running his businesses,” Jones said. “Very compassionate, always great to chat with, and I always looked forward to seeing he, Deb and Ted at the B-Dubs conferences.”

“Tom was very family-oriented and loyal to staff and friends,” Debbie Renfro added. “I have had so many guests pay tribute to how he treated them in the restaurant and how much they were going to miss him. He always went the extra mile to treat people well.”

Tom Renfro, right, with brother-in-law, Ted Church, and daughter, Sarah Noakes, at a Buffalo Wild Wings conference.

“He was my brother-in-law, but more like my brother,” Church said. “We talked every day. We still feel lost. I know that we’ll carry on with the restaurants in the way that he would’ve wanted.

“He was a great man that helped many people over the years.”

A service for the celebration of Renfro’s life will be planned later due to the nation’s health emergency. Online condolences may be given at website of Voss & Sons Funeral Service at www.vossfuneralservice.com. S

Brian Carmody

Partner(s): Jim Carmody, Kent Ward, Jeff Carmody, Mike Bailey, Tim and Mona Ward, and ICV Partners Year Became a BWW® Franchisee: 1994 Total Number of BWW Locations: 84 Total Number of Team Members: 4,377

How did you and your partner(s)

meet? My younger brother and I grew up playing hockey in the Detroit area. He became good friends with one of his teammates, Caleb Ward. Travel hockey meant just that … a lot of traveling throughout metro Detroit, the Midwest and Canada. Caleb’s dad, Kent Ward, and their family became very good friends with our family. Over the years (and after many beers), Kent and my dad, Jim, discussed how they would like to invest in a restaurant.

Kent’s son, Caleb, was playing in a hockey game in Cleveland, Ohio, back in the early ’90s, and Kent happened to go into the Parma Heights, Ohio, BW-3 – Jerry Franklin’s store – and really liked the concept. He brought back the menu that advertised “Now Franchising” and called Art Bowman for more information. At the time, I was in my senior year at Ferris State University and was managing a restaurant and bar and getting ready to graduate. Kent and my dad asked me to go look at the BW-3 in East Lansing. It was love at first sight. I graduated in May 1994, and we opened

The leaders of JK&T Wings are, from left, Kent Ward, Jeff Carmody, Tim Ward, Jim Carmody and Brian Carmody.

our first BW-3 in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, in December of that year. Twenty-six years later, here we are today.

What drew you to the brand? The brand was very attractive in the early ’90s as it was unique. It was basically a QSR with a bar. You ordered your wings at the front counter and we called your name out when your order was ready, and you came back up to the counter to pick up your food. If you wanted a beer, you went to the bar. Simple. This was unique to the guest and a very attractive business model.

What is your favorite thing about

the brand? I would say the people it has brought into my life. I consider myself very fortunate to have worked with a lot of amazing people over the years who have influenced me in so many positive ways. I have always been a sports enthusiast and extremely connected to the team concept, but the restaurant business takes the team concept to another level. In the hospitality business, the restaurant’s success depends on how every team member executes at their job at any given time, so it creates a lot of pressure and becomes very competitive. It is the closest thing to playing a team sport. Through all the successes and failures you share with your team, you form a bond or connection – your team becomes your family. The brand means family to me; that is what I love about it.

What other concepts do you own?

I’m a minority partner in Black Rock Bar & Grill.

What are your current top three business goals?

1. COVID-19. Figure out how to not only reopen our sports bars but also to be stronger and more profitable on the back side of the pandemic in the new “normal.” As a brand, we need to leverage our strengths and address our weaknesses to gain more market share. We need to be looking for the opportunities that will be in our industry and go get them faster and more efficiently than our competitors.

“Our business revolves around our ability to deliver outstanding hospitality to every guest on every shift.”

2. Focus on growth opportunity. I pledge to my team to always be focused on how we can grow our business and create opportunities for all of the team members who have worked so hard to get our company to where it is today.

“If you are going to be successful in life, you need to uphold your values and goals and perform your job to the best of your ability.”

3. Daily focus on continuous improvement on our company’s “blocking and tackling.” Stick to the basics and do them better than our competition. Our business revolves around our ability to deliver outstanding hospitality to every guest on every shift. We need to continue to stay disciplined on our approach to improving our fundamentals each day.

Describe your best recent busi

ness decision. It’s not recent, but the best decision in my career was not quitting during my manager training at the Vine Street location in Cincinnati, Ohio, in June 1994. My training was a shit show, and I was very close to giving up on the brand. I am very thankful that I stuck it out!

What is the best business advice

you have received? My father instilled in me at a young age that nothing worthwhile comes easy. If you are going to be successful in life, you need to uphold your values and goals and perform your job to the best of your ability. It’s simple: Work harder than the next guy.

Describe the biggest industry change since you started.

Government regulations. As the brand grew over the years and the business evolved, so did the state and federal regulations. Whether it is minimum wage, tip credit, joint employer or any other regulation that is passed down to the restaurant sector, it has added a level of complexity that didn’t exist back in the early ’90s.

Describe your current biggest

challenge as a franchisee. This answer is easy: COVID-19 and what its long-term effects will be on our business and how we will have to change our business model to adapt to the new “norm.”

What is your favorite BWW wing

sauce? All-time favorite is Spicy Garlic, but I go in spurts. I’ve been on a Buffalo Dry Rub kick since COVID-19 started. I put that shit on everything!

If I wasn’t a franchisee, I would be … A coach. I am attracted to the concept of competition and team. S

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