We covered Nextlink in the last segment. It’s time to look at PhoLicious.
PHOLICIOUS: You gotta love the owners. They came out of nowhere and have a kick-ass little spot across from Hoffpauir Feed Store, they’re on Amazon, they have a slick website, they both seem SUPER nice. They quit their old jobs (thanks Covid!) and took the plunge. I have zero doubt they put in 16 hour days and kill themselves to make it work. They are the quintessential small business owner taking risk and working hard to build something of value.
In other words, the exact OPPOSITE of Julie Landrum at Wool & Vine.
I hope they are a raging success and make a million bucks.
BUT – does that make them a realistic candidate as a viable tenant for the $7.1 million dollar Business Pork and all the infrastructure it entails?
Sadly, no. For several reasons:
#1 Their HUGE pressing need is just plain old space. Just a big, empty warehouse. I’m guessing that a MASSIVE percentage of their business is actually the Amazon side of things. I’ve seen their Facebook videos of piles and piles of boxes (filled with the kits) and there’s just no way they are selling all that in town here. The owner also admitted to me during a chat that they REALLY need warehouse space.
She also lamented the ridiculous cost of land around town. I agreed. There are a hell of a lot of property owners who are deluded about what their building is worth – which is why we have MANY empty building sitting around town.
Here is a thought: call up the owner of one of these empty buildings that is sitting there earning $0 in rent and offer to use it as a warehouse. I can think of a few immediately:
Rutlands. This was supposed to be turned into lofts, according to an article from THREE YEARS ago. It sits there – big and empty and waiting to hold Pho boxes.
“Millican’s Dry Goods” eyesore that sits on the square right next to Windsor Foods and the county offices. I’ve been inside that spot. It is massive. I believe the owners live in Kempner or Cove. Make them an offer.
The old AmVets building. Pretty sure it’s empty ever since Twisted Oak went under. That’s also a huge spot.
#2 They are in a cut-throat business and have only been around a short while. There is no guarantee they will be around in two years (it will be at LEAST another 18 months before the Business Pork is ‘shovel ready’ for the second time).
On Amazon, they are competing with the likes of “Phonomenal” and about a dozen other Pho makers. PhoLicious needs to get their price down about 20% if they hope to compete long term. I know this because my best friend is former VP of global operations for Golden State Foods and he knows the business.
[In fact, if PhoLicious happens to read this and wants to pick his brain, contact me at lampasshole@protonmail.com]
#3 They don’t really employ anyone right now. I think it’s just the two of them doing everything themselves. Maybe have another body or two at $15/hr to put the kits together, but we are not talking a huge amount of jobs here. Certainly not enough to justify $7.1 million dollars in land, roads, electricity, water, etc that the Business Pork has committed to.
In conclusion: while I certainly hope they hit it big, there is a lot of uncertainty here and not really the potential for massive jobs (like, say, Ajinomoto Windsor type jobs). If their financials are solid and prospects good, they should be able to EASILY get a bank loan (if needed) and secure some warehouse rental space that is badly needed to reach the next level.
Damn, all this talk about pho is making me hungry. I think I’ll head up to Pholicious and grab a beef pho kit!
P.S. – it’s funny to me that LEDC is bending over backwards for a tiny, brand-new, yet-to-be-proven little “food production” operation when they told Anijimoto Foods to go fuck themselves in 2016 when Ajinomoto offered to bring TWO HUNDRED MORE JOBS to Lampasas. Classic LEDC stupidity. Ironically, Talbert, Monroe and Williamson were all on city council at that time too.