May Q&A
Firehouse owner keeps answering the challenge
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ow celebrating its 35th anniversary, the Firehouse Restaurant has long been a prominent destination for hungry diners in and around Johnson City. Owner Tom Seaton has shepherded the business from its humble beginnings as Bucwood Barbeque, a drive-thru operation in a nearby convenience store, to its current lofty perch between the downtown and East Tennessee State University. Housed in the old West Walnut Street Fire Station building, which was built in 1930 and served the public until 1968, the Firehouse has become an iconic brand. Seaton added a catering service that now operates from an adjacent building just a couple of years into the venture when the restaurant was “struggling,” he said. It all seems like a well-oiled machine now, and more components will soon come on line. The Firehouse is a family affair that includes wife Donna and sons Justin and Matthew. (Justin, the oldest, heads up business development.) “In the early years of our company, Donna worked the most important job of all — raising our two sons,” said Seaton. “Now, with some more time on her hands, there’s hardly a job she can’t do in our operation, from kitchen to dining room. She’s especially great working alongside and interacting with the young people we have here.” The team concept resonates through an unfailingly polite and eager staff of several dozen employees. Seaton has served on numerous civic and university boards through the years and has a unique perspective on how the city has developed. He sat down recently with Out-N-About managing editor Kelly Hodge to discuss a proud past and promising future.
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Out-N-About
May 2015
KH: After more than three decades in business, it’s safe to say the Firehouse looms large on the Johnson City restaurant scene. Did you envision such a run when you and Jimmy Carter started out selling barbeque sandwiches and beans from the drive-thru window of the Buc Mart? TS: No, not at all. We were doing it to work our way through college, and it got out of hand. I really didn’t start loving it until about 20 years ago. Hospitality is something that really gets in your blood, and you love it or you get out. I really believe that. A lot of people who stay in it love the challenge; there’s a lot of challenge in this. I’ve heard people say if you can run a restaurant, you can do about anything.
Tom Seaton has cultivated an iconic brand on West Walnut Street.
KH: How has your approach evolved through the years? TS: Our approach changed pretty dramatically about 13 years ago. The bottom line to having a great restaurant is having great people who know what they’re doing -- and being able to create an environment in which those people can become great at what they do. At the end of the day, our mission here is to serve great food with famous hospitality while growing tomorrow’s leaders. That’s our mission statement and we talk about it a lot. For us, the basic makeup of our staff of 80 people, the majority are 16 to 25 years old, and we love that, being able to engage them while they’re in high school
and college and being able to teach them about hospitality and professionalism, customer-service skills and how to be part of a great team. That’s really what has made our place different the last 10 years. You love watching them come and learn and grow — and it doesn’t always happen — and then go on to their callings … the skills it takes to do that. That’s a lot of fun. That’s what enables us to pull off great food and hospitality. What we hear over and over from our guests is that, ‘You’ve got the greatest people.’ They’ve got great attitudes, they act like they want to be here. That’s what has kept us in the running for 35 years.
Kelly Hodge
KH: Is the Johnson City market more challenging than ever? TS: When we started, there was only a handful of the chain restaurants around. Red Lobster opened the same year or year after we did. Then came all the chains you and I saw growing up, and that weeded out some of the independents along the way. The market has changed significantly. There’s more competition than ever, whether it’s quick service or full service. We love where we are now, being on this side of town, whereas 15 years ago this was not the best place to be. We were isolated, and all of a sudden with everything See Q&A, Page 11