Sticky Fingers Ribhouse

Sticky Fingers
Food services
Founded Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina (1992)
Headquarters Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina
Website www.stickyfingersonline.com

Sticky Fingers RibHouse (also known as Sticky Fingers) is a barbecue restaurant located in the southeastern United States specializing in Memphis Style barbecue. The restaurant is not affiliated with the London-based restaurant of the same name,[1] owned by Rolling Stones member Bill Wyman. Sticky Fingers was started by three high school friends in 1992. The first store opened in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina and the company has grown to include 12 stores in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

History

Sticky Fingers was founded by lifelong friends Jeff Goldstein, Todd Eischeid, and Chad Walldorf who met in seventh grade in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The three friends went their separate ways after high school, each attending a different college. After college Jeff moved to Memphis to work for his father at the famous Public Eye restaurant where he gained a love for ribs and barbecue. Jeff's parents then moved to Charleston, South Carolina where they complained there was no good barbecue. Jeff proceeded to contact Todd and Chad who were busy being ski bums in Colorado and ask them how they felt about opening a restaurant in Charleston. The three opened the first Sticky Fingers in the Charleston suburb of Mt. Pleasant. Originally Jeff ran the kitchen, Chad was on the floor, and Todd did the accounting and helped where he was needed. The three rotated jobs every six months.

July 10, 2002
Red, Hot & Blue Alleges Trade Secrets Stolen
The Red Hot & Blue restaurant chain filed a lawsuit in Arlington County Circuit Court against Gary Price, its former vice president, and Sticky Fingers Restaurant Group. The suit accuses Price of proffering confidential company information to win a job offer. It also alleges that Sticky Fingers actively sought and now possesses trade secrets—specifically, recipes—that might cost Red Hot & Blue's franchised and company-owned eateries business.

Complicating the sorting out of stolen-recipe claims is a connection both chains have to the Memphis-based Corky's Old-Fashioned Bar-B-Q, an 18-unit chain with restaurants in five states. At Red Hot & Blue's founding, the chain had an agreement to use Corky's recipes. But before that, according to Walldorf, Corky's was owned by Sticky Fingers co-founder Jeff Goldstein's father, who also operated another Memphis barbecue, The Public Eye. "Herb Goldstein had sold his interest and came to Charleston to help us get Sticky Fingers going," Walldorf said.

December 12, 2002
Barbecue Restaurant Chain Drops Suit against Charleston, S.C.-Based Rival
Red Hot & Blue Inc., based in Arlington, Va., dismissed the lawsuit it filed earlier against Sticky Fingers and former Red Hot & Blue executive Gary Price.

2006
Chain investor Quad-C buys Sticky Fingers stake
In another indication that private-equity firms are eager to invest in smaller restaurant companies, Charlottesville-based Quad-C Management bought an undisclosed stake in Sticky Fingers Corp.

2008
 Sticky Fingers ended its partnership with Quad-C in 2008. Quad-C is no longer affiliated with Sticky Fingers RibHouse.

2009
 Sticky Fingers closed four locations (Hixson, TN; Columbia, SC; Hilton Head, SC; and North Charleston, SC). The company moved the restaurant headquarters' from a 6,500-square-foot (600 m2) office in Mount Pleasant to a smaller new 3,500-square-foot (330 m2) office site.

2010
 September 5, 2010 Sticky Fingers closes in Wilmington, NC.

September 6, 2010
 Sticky Fingers headquarters moving to Atlanta, GA
Frank Sbordone, chief executive officer of Sticky RibHouse LLC, said that the move put them closer to its southeastern scattering of restaurants. "We needed better access to our current markets," he said. "Our new headquarters offers proximity to major expressways and the Atlanta airport, and is also convenient for the majority of our Atlanta-based administrative and restaurant support team. In addition, we believe metro Atlanta presents a great opportunity for future restaurant growth."

2011
 In April 2011, Sticky Fingers closed in Atlantic Beach, FL.

2016
 In January 2016, Sticky Fingers closed in Savannah, GA.

Sale of Sticky Fingers Smokehouse Restaurants and BBQ Sauce Business
 Brookwood Associates has advised Sticky Ribhouse, LLC (“Sticky Fingers”) on the sale of the company’s restaurant operations to a newly formed entity, Sticky Fingers Restaurants, LLC, and the sale of the retail barbecue sauce distribution business to Ken’s Foods, Inc. Sticky Fingers operates 16 restaurants in five southeastern states and is a premier source of Memphis-style ribs, barbecue, and sauces. The company also has a dynamic retail sauce distribution business, selling through grocery chains and big box retailers such as Wal-Mart. The brand enjoys a loyal following in the southeast and widespread distribution of its proprietary sauces.

Brookwood’s broad marketing process maximized the value of the company by separately identifying the most logical buyers for the restaurants and retail sauce business. This transaction underscores Brookwood’s deep knowledge of the restaurant and food distribution industries, and yielded a favorable outcome for this unique barbecue concept.

Sticky Fingers Restaurants, LLC is a newly formed entity created to acquire the 16 Sticky Fingers restaurants. The entity is managed by RJD Management, LLC which also manages Red, Hot and Blue, a 27 unit casual barbecue restaurant chain specializing in “Barbecue, Burgers and Blues.” The company is based in Winston-Salem, NC, and operates or franchises restaurants in 7 states, primarily in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Ken’s Foods, Inc. is one of the largest producers and distributors of dressings and sauces, offering products under its namesake brand as well as other brands through exclusive licensing agreements. The company produces and packages over 400 varieties of dressings and sauces, sold through both retail grocery stores and professional food service channels. The company is based in Marlborough, MA.

Brookwood Associates is a leading independently owned investment bank serving middle-market companies. The firm offers merger, acquisition, corporate financing, restructuring, fairness opinion and other related advisory services to clients across several sectors, including but not limited to franchisee brands, restaurants and specialty retail industries

Restaurant

The restaurant has a nostalgic ambiance. In order to accent the Memphis-Style barbecue, blues music is played and pictures of various famous blues artists and instruments associated with blues music such as guitars and basses are displayed. A framed copy of The Rolling Stones album Sticky Fingers hangs near the bar in every restaurant. The tables include a new setup of the sauces and a happy hour menu.

Fare

Sticky Fingers specializes in Memphis-style barbecue, using St. Louis cut spare-ribs which are hickory smoked in every store. Sticky Fingers also serves various pulled pork and rotisserie chicken dishes (both also hickory smoked in store) along with salads and desserts. Sticky Fingers' exclusive flavor comes from its smoking process and five signature sauces:

The entrance to each Sticky Fingers has pictures of various famous guests who have visited Sticky Fingers.[2]

See also

Citations

Sticky Fingers Smokehouse—How we started
Sticky Fingers Smokehouse—Famous Customers

References

  1. ↑ http://www.stickyfingers.co.uk/
  2. ↑ Sticky Fingers
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