Black Entrepreneur's Journal - Issue 3

ENTREPRENEURIAL SPOTLIGHT

By Ni Lo

SPOTLIGHT ON Lloyd Reid - Llyod’s Patty Plus

A Note on Endurance

Upon entering Lloyd’s Patty Plus, you are greeted by the smell of fresh patties and the clinking sound of a variety of bottled Jamaican juices. Though there are people working the front counter, you will also find Lloyd himself. I’ve come many times for a patty, but today I came for a story. Asking a veteran for his life story is no small task, but Lloyd just smiled.

Lloyd Reid

Image courtesy NiLo

“There were no Black People here when I came,” he recalls “if you saw another Black person on the street, you would wave, and nod to acknowledge each other.” Lloyd remembers that there was a steady group of Caribbean people who supported and inspired one another back then, but they were spread out across Alberta.

Finding a job upon arrival was challenging, with businesses telling him the position was filled when he arrived for an interview; Lloyd eventually managed to find a position in a bakery. He worked at that establishment for 8 years before a machinist joked about his longevity with the company, “You’re going to work here until you retire,” he said and that was the nudge that

Lloyd needed to tender his resignation. “The guys that owned the bakery were shocked and gave me an extra day to think about it. I was turning 40 and that’s all I needed to hear”. After getting the OK from his wife that evening, he returned the next day and confirmed his resignation.

With only a week’s notice, Lloyd found a bakery that was for sale by following his intuition. “I was driving and something told me to turn in there.” After offering to pay the full asking amount on the business, the sellers agreed on the morning of his last day. He immediately called his wife, “I told her we owned our own business.”

The bank provided no support and turned down his loan applications. It was Lloyd’s family from England who helped him to secure the finances to start the business. Starting as the only store in a vacant lot, Lloyd’s Pattys thrived, growing from 700 Sq ft to over 2000 sq ft. Many of the vacant spaces in the strip mall also became occupied by other businesses over time.

With the increasing pressure on supply, Lloyd returned to the bank to help with scaling the business by increasing the production space and making it federally licensed. It was approved, however, mid-build it became apparent that the contractor had miscalculated the budget and the project became cost overrun. When they saw this the bank backed out, and Lloyd was left to fund his goal of national distribution by liquidating his personal assets.

The business defaulted on the equipment loan, and although it was able to come within 5% of what the bank had been asking, the banking agent rejected the offer, and foreclosed on the property for less than half of the value of the equipment and the building.

Lloyd’s integrity and phenomenal product did one thing: kept his clients loyal; so loyal that he was out for less than 3 months. When he reopened, the very bank agent who declined his offer came into the shop for a patty and a drink. Today, Lloyd puts his trust in the next generation, with the son of his long-time accountant and friend, Tyler McFarlane, opening Lloyd’s first location in Edmonton.

Tyler says change is one of his motivations for opening a Lloyd’s rather than any other franchise or business. The endeavour seeks to change the stereotypes visible minorities and specifically Jamaicans live with every day. More personally, he says “My motivation is Lloyd Reid, his life story, and the trust he has instilled in me to continue and grow his legacy. Lloyd has taken me in and taught me his art, how to make a good patty and has trusted me with his face and his brand. Lastly, of course, my family and my newborn son who will someday see a franchise with a minority face, assuring him that the world is his to conquer.”