RESTAURANT
TRULY
Successful There’s nothing basic about Tru Burger By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
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tuart Gee has literally spent his life in the restaurant business. Growing up in Waterloo, Iowa, he split his days between school and his father’s Chinese restaurant. After college, he worked for Red Lobster, Macaroni Grill, Mimi’s and TGI Friday’s—all in management or executive positions. When he bought Tru Burger, which at the time had stores in Peoria and Anthem, he went with his gut instinct. “I did like the name. I liked the concept, but I thought it was a little undervalued,” Gee says. “The past owner wasn’t really a restaurant person. Both stores were on negative sales trends, so I was able to get him at a good price. My whole world was in corporate at Macaroni Grill, Red Lobster, TGI Friday’s—things like that. I’ve been the turnaround guy. “That’s why it appealed to me. They had a good product, but they started taking short cuts. I knew that there was a lot of low-hanging food to move the needle the right way.” Since Gee bought Tru Burger in April 2017,
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Stuart Gee had a long history in the restaurant business before acquiring Tru Burger, which has locations in Anthem, shown above, and Downtown Phoenix. (Photo by Pablo Robes)
the Anthem location has doubled in sales. He chalks it up to improved management and products. “Since we’ve doubled our sales, there are a lot of loyal guests,” he says. “Internally, when we talk, we wonder how our ‘Tru Believers’ will feel about this rollout, that addition to the appetizers, these burgers. We stay way ahead of the curve.” He doesn’t skimp on product, either, which helped bolster sales. Burgers start at $9.95.
“Our main burger that we use on all of our items is a half-pound black angus all-natural patty with no added hormones or antibiotics,” Gee says. “If you’re going to have a burger, that’s about as healthy as you can get. We don’t do a basic cheeseburger. There are some people who say we’re a little expensive. We may be a little more expensive, but our food cost is about 5 points higher, simply because we invest in the food that’s going to give us the repeat business, the high scores and good value.” And while the cost of beef has risen, Gee
