heidi: thank you for coming. lemonis: thank you for having me. lemonis: you did great. heidi: no. thank you. lemonis: i'm very proud of you guys. dear santa, you're welcome for fixing your toy store. now can you get me a good return on my investment? mark: thank you, sir. heidi: say goodbye! ♪ lemonis: tonight on "the profit"... corey: it's the traditional new york style kettle-boiled bagel. -lemonis: a master bagel maker has built three locations and a big following in chicago. the flavor's amazing. corey: if it doesn't hurt here from chewing after a while, it's not real. lemonis: but even as he dreams of expanding beyond the windy city... corey: i want 10 more. lemonis: ...his business is growing stale. that store should do $2.5 million, not $1.5 million. owner corey kaplan has a long history in the industry and an ego to match. corey: they didn't even know how to say bagel in chicago until i got there. lemonis: yet his branding is uninspired. it looks old and not reflective of you. his product mix is all over the place. why have capers? and while he and his wife have overcome

great challenges together... corey: we have five children. two of them are in heaven. lemonis: ...he struggles with giving her a say in the company. laurie, this is your project... -corey: no. lemonis: if i can't push him to rise to the occasion... corey: i'm not prepared to say, "some new guy came in, now it's different." lemonis: ...his grand plans will never get off the ground. my name is marcus lemonis, and i risk my own money to save struggling businesses. we're not gonna wake up every morning wondering if we have a job. we're gonna wake up every morning wondering how many jobs we have to do. it's not always pretty. everything's gonna change. everything. but i do it to save jobs, and i do it to make money. this... let's go to work. ...is "the profit." ♪ one of the things that appeals to me about nyc bagel deli is that people know it. it's been around a long time. -carlos: two dozen?

corey: a dozen and a half, carlos. carlos: all right, dozen and a half. corey: yeah, buddy. lemonis: but i also know that bagels have unbelievable margins. carlos: thank you. we appreciate it. -woman: thank you. -carlos: gentlemen! men: thank you! lemonis: so i'm meeting up with the owners at their north avenue location to learn more. -corey: [ chuckling ] hey! -lemonis: hey. i'm marcus. corey: i know who you are. i'm corey. it's nice to meet you. -lemonis: nice to meet you. corey: yeah, yeah, yeah. this is my wife. lemonis: how are you? nice to meet you. you're the boss? corey: that's laurie, she's a hugger. lemonis: who's the boss? laurie: he is the boss. he's the main -- he's the main... -corey: i don't know. -laurie: yes. -lemonis: hi. how are you? -carlos: hey. how are you? lemonis: good. what are the types of bagels that you have? carlos: 13 kind of bagels, you can show them behind me. lemonis: i'm gonna have everything bagel. what do you sell one bagel for? -corey: $1.29. lemonis: what does it cost to make one bagel? corey: about 10 cents. -lemonis: in materials? -corey: in materials. lemonis: and another 10 in labor? corey: exactly. lemonis: so that's part of the beauty of being in this business. -corey: of course. lemonis: it's high margin. take your half. corey: okay, thanks.

laurie: [ laughs ] man: what can i get for you today? laurie: now, i have a bagel every single day. corey: it's a good bagel. if it doesn't hurt here from chewing after a while, it's not real. lemonis: the flavor's amazing. i love the size. i love the weight. it's the consistency. it's a little overcooked. corey: in your opinion. i mean, we've been here for a while. 19 years. we're doing something right. people wait on line to get 'em. i don't think i'm gonna change the recipe just because you said it's -- you know what i mean? in all fairness. lemonis: when you invest in a business, you're investing in product, you're investing in process, but you're first and foremost investing in people. some are collaborative, and some are less so. i don't know if corey's open to change, but i'm gonna keep pushing until we find out. ♪ how do you think about what you put on here? corey: the fruit started off banana, orange, apple... lemonis: you sell a lot of it? corey: we do sell small amounts.

lemonis: the front counter was stacked so high. it was bananas and cookies. i couldn't even see anybody's face. and by the way, none of the items were new york items. i don't even see cheesecake here. so this is -- i should not think about this as like a new york traditional deli. -corey: yeah. lemonis: don't pay attention to new york city bagel deli? why have italian capers? corey: you use probably a couple cases a week with your lox sandwich. so the rest of 'em sit here. we need one, hey, dump it in the thing. but i can't tell you the last time we sold one of these. lemonis: look, bagels have amazing margins, but it's the ancillary products that will actually build on to the size of the order if the products that are there are things that people actually want to buy. so what are the locations? we're on north avenue. corey: this is the original. and then the second one, which is dearborn -- dearborn and grant, and the willis tower. lemonis: like a kiosk? corey: yeah, a little bit more than a kiosk, but... -lemonis: not a full store. -corey: not a full store. lemonis: and then the revenue out of this location? corey: this is good for about $95,000, $100,000 a month.

-lemonis: and dearborn? -corey: about the same. lemonis: and willis? corey: $50,000 a month. i want 10 more of them. -lemonis: [ laughing ] yeah. -corey: yeah. lemonis: the fact that the dearborn and the north avenue location generate over $100,000 a month is pretty awesome. i'm impressed that he's been able to accomplish that number with what i see. it tells me that the potential is massive. you're gonna teach me today how to make a bagel, right? corey: right now i'm gonna show you. look, here. come on. -lemonis: let's go! man: let's do it. lemonis: everybody's fired up about bagels. -man: let's do it. -corey: so this the mixer. it's giving you the consistency that will allow it to run through the bagel machine. go, look, right into that hopper. go. lemonis: i mean, it's not light. corey: go. throw it. there you go. okay, start. [ machine whirs ] there we go. it will go back and forth, and it will cut 4-ounce pieces of dough. it's gonna run through here, and it's gonna be formed into a bagel. lemonis: how long you been doing this? neto: 16 years. -lemonis: here? -neto: yeah.

-lemonis: with him? -neto: yeah. i was taught by a gentleman who was a fourth-generation bagel maker. lemonis: all right, back out. let me show you how to do this. corey: look at this. we got a replacement for you. lemonis: they look more like donuts. holy [bleep] they're moving too fast! here, i'll try to keep them -- corey: now what are we gonna do? there's too many coming out. now to shut the machine! shut it down. shut it down. neto: there you go. there you go. corey: shut it down. there you go. all right. now, get 'em into the water. the water's boiling, and then we're stirring them up. you want to try it? -lemonis: yeah. corey: this is actually going to cook the outside, which gives us the hard outside, soft inside. it's the traditional new york style kettle-boiled bagel. and now you're gonna take as many as you can, walk 'em right over here, and dump 'em right here. there you go. dump 'em there, and let's seed them. go ahead. seed 'em. and these bagels are put into the oven. nice and easy. if we went to go look at this bagel and this bagel at the end didn't look good because it was maybe sideways, it's up to us to throw it away... lemonis: why aren't you making bagel chips out of all of 'em? -laurie: amen. thank you. -lemonis: you agree with that?

laurie: oh, we argue about it all the time. laurie: i would love bagel chips to be mass produced. lemonis: why are you arguing about it? corey: because there's a lot more involved. you got to cut 'em, you got to put 'em in and bake 'em, you got to bag 'em. lemonis: her point is is that she has an idea and she's just trying to... -corey: oh, yeah. lemonis: we don't really need him for the bagel chips, do we? laurie: the bagel chips is a business of its own. lemonis: it could be laurie's bagel chips. laurie: it would be its own business. -corey: laurie and marcus. -lemonis: no, laurie's is fine. corey: no, no, take her with you. go ahead. laurie and marcus. laurie: i don't speak when you're speaking, so don't speak. okay. lemonis: the fact that corey doesn't see the value of reusing existing product to make more money just tells me that if it's not his idea, it's not gonna go anywhere. let's go to dearborn. -corey: yeah, okay. ♪ ♪ lemonis: walking up to the second location, the first thing i notice is this lame, dinky awning that, by the way, doesn't even match the first location,

and looks like it was here 25 years ago. how you doing? -corey: good. how are you? lemonis: good. corey: what's going on? lemonis: this is a lot bigger. corey: it's a little different. lemonis: do you mind putting your coat on for a second? -corey: of course. -lemonis: okay. i want to just go outside. -corey: of course. [ horn honks ] lemonis: on a scale of 1 to 10, and this is just me asking, how would you rate your façade, the light, the openness? corey: i see what you're saying. a zero probably. -lemonis: yeah, it's dark. -corey: i'm glad you asked. lemonis: it looks old and not reflective of you because, i mean, you're -- -corey: aah! i got you. -lemonis: yeah. do that again. -corey: ah! lemonis: [ chuckles ] okay. corey: so look. let me show you something. this is the cooler. -lemonis: okay. corey: so i'll fill this up. lemonis: but there's no mixing machine. corey: correct. lemonis: so where is the dough coming from? corey: the other store -- after i leave you tonight, i'm gonna go over there, me personally, put the racks of bagels that were made today in the truck, bring 'em over here. lemonis: you could do that over here, but you don't? corey: yeah, and is it really cost effective

to have another machine and another staff? and then you don't have the consistency. lemonis: if corey wants to grow this business, he's not gonna be able to prep, boil, and proof mass production out of the very small kitchen on north avenue. ultimately what this business needs is a commissary model -- a larger space that allows for the storage of raw materials, the prep of the dough, the boiling of the product, and the proofing of the product. and then it could be transported to individual locations in the chicagoland area, and the final baking process can happen there. the one big financial advantage to that is as he opens additional locations, they don't need to be as big. ♪ i'm marcus. -ray: hi. ray. -lemonis: nice to meet you. -ray: nice to meet you, as well. lemonis: is corey easy to work with? ray: he's a good man. knowing the type of guy he is and how kind he is, if you just break it down to him and let him know you need some help, he's the first one that wants to help. he'd make sure that the guys here are happy and they make enough money to take home for their family, and he might give them a little extra hours, and that's what makes him special. if you're not inside the doors with him,

you'll never understand. lemonis: can the three of us sit down for a few minutes? corey: sure. lemonis: i always want to understand the people side of it first. i mean, why are you in this business? what's your motivation? corey: this is all i really have ever done. i started working at a bagel place that my father was working at in the early '80s in new jersey. and we went to florida with the first store and then even the second store. then i met laurie. from florida to here -- we -- we have five children, two of them are in heaven. they had polycystic kidney disease, and basically it's a disease that captures and covers your organs with cysts. but we came here because they promised us that there was a better chance to be on a list for transplant. so we literally left the house and the businesses. we rented a house here immediately. lemonis: how old were they when all this was happening? corey: my daughter was 19 months when she passed, and my son only made it a couple days, so.

-lemonis: i'm sorry. -corey: yeah, no, it's sad. it's horrible, you know? -lemonis: i'm really sorry. lemonis: and your son, what was his name? -laurie: corey. and my daughter was corri. lemonis: how'd you survive that? i can't even imagine that. laurie: [ voice breaking ] when a child dies, there's like a 90 percent chance of people divorcing and it... -corey: it made us stronger. -laurie: ...brought us closer. corey: most people would have quit, but we had three other kids. lemonis: candidly, i am not a parent, and so i don't know what that feels like and can't even begin to imagine it. but even if i tried to imagine, i don't know that i could push through, and i give them credit for that. if i couldn't meet him and you were gonna try to describe him to me, how would you describe him? laurie: lovable, larger than life, very generous, kind, loyal. -lemonis: great husband? -laurie: yes. -lemonis: great father? -laurie: yes. -lemonis: good boss? -laurie: definitely. ♪

-lemonis: nice to see you. -laurie: hi. good to see you. -corey: what's up, boss? lemonis: my man, what's happening? -corey: good to see you, man. -lemonis: good seeing you. what is this chain you're wearing? corey: it's a whole solid gold bagel with diamonds for the salt. lemonis: where'd you get that? corey: laurie got it for me 25 years ago. lemonis: that's how long you've been in the business? corey: probably longer than that. laurie: you've been in the business since the day you were born. come on. it's in your blood. -corey: probably. lemonis: you're a bagel man through and through. corey: that's where it started. originally, the stores were corey's bagels. laurie: which i like better than nyc, but that's okay. corey: but i'm gonna come back to that, okay? corey's bagels for years and years and years. when we came here, it was new york bagel deli, which i'd purchased from a friend of mine. the name came with it. lemonis: you bought one location. -corey: i bought one location. -lemonis: and then you duplicated it and put it up again. why didn't you just call it corey's? corey: i left well enough alone because it already had a -- you know, it had a presence. laurie: i wanted it to be corey's. corey: laurie, stop. lemonis: now, don't do that to her. would you stop? did you bring your financials? -corey: i did. -lemonis: can we look over 'em? -corey: of course. lemonis: okay.

north avenue -- 2015, $1,296,000 in revenue, made $152,000. in 2016, $1,335,000 in revenue, $181,000 in profit. let's look over at dearborn, which is the second location. that's the larger location. so in 2015, $1,255,000, made $191,000. 2016, $1,293,000 in revenue, made $210,000. dearborn and north avenues... -corey: yes. lemonis: ...both making money, and the willis location? corey: well, it's just a pop up. lemonis: so we'll just focus on these two. corey: i agree. lemonis: and when i look at dearborn, i say to myself, "how much more revenue can be drawn through there? how do i get promotional to drive traffic in? how do i make sure that when people come in, i raise the average order?" that store should do $2.5 million. -laurie: easily. -lemonis: not $1.5 million. but sometimes i meet people that say, "we can't keep the lights on," and we help them keep the lights on. in this case, it's about growth, not about survival. so my offer is $200,000 for 25 percent.

corey: a couple hundred thousand dollars is not gonna make a difference here where we are. we're in a very good position right now with the stores. i'm very happy. and then honestly, i have to listen to somebody else for a couple hundred grand. i mean, you're making that face, but isn't that true? you're gonna put money in and not just gonna sit back. we're gonna go at things together. laurie: but anything he says would be an asset. corey: well, i mean, again... lemonis: i know where the market is in chicago for this product. i know how poorly branded the business is. i know what loose ends exist in the business. i know how poorly merchandised it is. i know where the margins should be. corey: i just don't know. i'm still thinking. i'm just being honest with you. lemonis: what are you thinking about? corey: you're not just gonna say $200,000 and i'm not getting anything. what am i getting? you're not just putting that in to say, "okay, this is what we're gonna do." i want to hear the rest of it. i want to see what all... lemonis: oh, you want my sales pitch? corey: i want your sales pitch. lemonis: i'm not selling you on anything. but i'm not opposed to putting in more money. sometimes if the business is really working, i may fund up to two times, even three times the amount of the original deal.

corey: but i'm in a position right now where i have to really weigh it out, and there's just a lot more that goes into it. lemonis: $200,000 for 25 percent. -corey: and i said, "no." -lemonis: okay. so what's your counter? corey: we can't decide that at the coffee shop. that, we can't. lemonis: so, a week from now, you're gonna know more? what are you gonna know differently? -corey: i don't know. -lemonis: until we start going to work, how the hell are you gonna know? corey: i don't know. lemonis: i don't think that either of us are going to come to a deal tonight that you're gonna live with. do you want to determine it now? you said you don't want to. corey: i don't. lemonis: it's like, "okay." nice meeting you. corey: you, as well, sir. pleasure and honor. honestly, i mean that. thank you for your time. ♪ [ door closes ] lemonis: if your business is in trouble

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nice meeting you. -corey: you, as well, sir. ♪ [ door closes ] ♪ laurie: i don't think you heard a word he said. you didn't hear a word he said. ♪ lemonis: to be honest with you, i never thought i'd hear from corey again, but a week after we met, i got a call from him asking me if we could meet. corey: i've asked you to call me because, first of all, i mean, without kissing your butt, i think you're wonderful with whatever you do. i've looked you up, i've learned a lot about you. i think what you do to help people is awesome. lemonis: so i drove out to one of the suburbs of chicago and met him at his warehouse. how you doin', my man? -corey: good, how are you? -lemonis: good to see you. -corey: it's great to see you. lemonis: i wanted to hear what he had to say. we both left red beard that night a little confused about what happened, and you've had a chance to think. so for me, if you want to have this brand mean something,

it has to really be a transformation. -corey: okay. -lemonis: and i really like you. you're fun to be around. -corey: yeah. thank you. -lemonis: okay. -laurie: wow. lemonis: and at the end of the day, you love your family and you love your kids and you love the history so much... -laurie: that's super sweet. lemonis: ...that that is really what needs to be celebrated. corey: wow. lemonis: and i think you guys should change your name back to corey's bagels because i think it's a better name. corey: we don't have to -- the sign doesn't have to say corey's bagels. lemonis: new york city bagel deli is generic. in order to scale the business, it needs to have an identity that is really marketable here. corey: so look, corey's bagels, look. that's what it was in florida. i don't want it again. laurie does. lemonis: do you want to move forward? corey: i do want to move forward. my gut says a business with marcus lemonis is a better business than without. lemonis: okay. so, my offer was $200,000 for 25 percent, and i had an $800,000 valuation. corey: i've put the valuation at $1.2 million. lemonis: okay. so let's meet in the middle.

-corey: at a million. -lemonis: yep. so now, every $100,000 represents 10 percent. corey: 10 percent, but i want to understand if you need to have a certain percentage. laurie: i'm gonna steal marcus' jacket because i'm freezing. lemonis: here, here, here. corey: look at this. laurie: how is everyone like standing around? corey: look at this. and i'm just gonna reiterate for the same question... -lemonis: yes, sir. -corey: ...i want you involved at a percentage that's gonna make you as... lemonis: pick a number, and i'll react to it. ♪ corey: 25 percent, $250,000. lemonis: does that work for you? -corey: it works. -lemonis: great. corey: all right. welcome aboard. -lemonis: we got a deal. -corey: let's go to work. ♪ all right, so, guys, as you guys know we have great months, we have okay months, but in order to go to the next level, we need to redo things. and one of the big things that we wanted to do, we're gonna start to make bagel chips. lemonis: corey, you know this is actually -- this is actually what i do.

corey: well, then go ahead, sir. lemonis: okay. my name is marcus lemonis. and my job is truly to get in and help small businesses. in some cases, the businesses are struggling. in other cases, they're doing just fine, like this place. place makes good money... -corey: doing well. lemonis: ...the staff is amazing, the product's good, but does everybody agree that it could get better? -man: yes. -man #2: yeah, definitely. lemonis: and so i agreed to invest $250,000 to become a partner in the business. one of the things that we want to do is bring more authentic new york style products. we want to be different than everybody else. it's the best bagel place, but we don't just want to just be a bagel place. and also, the name of the store is definitely changing. corey: oh. oh. lemonis: in order to really scale this business, i have a number of initiatives that i want to put in place. first and foremost, i want to develop one concept store that really accounts for a better process for the customer and a higher register ring for the company. that's gonna be the dearborn location. number two, i want to understand how this company's gonna grow by developing a commissary model

that allows the business to open more locations and wholesale. i also want to work with laurie to develop the bagel chips. and most importantly, i want to bring in new york city-based products so that we really can feel authentic. what do you guys think about what's happening? lamale: excited. i'm ready to get it started, get it moving, and up and running. lemonis: i say we get to work. let's get back to work. corey: let's do it. let's rock and roll. lemonis: the kaplans and i have a ton of work to do, and i don't want to waste any time getting started. one of the most popular things when i go to a bagel shop is bagel chips. and so laurie and i are gonna develop them. first, we're gonna decide how thinly they should be sliced. which stack do you like? laurie: this one. corey: i like this one. lemonis: i hope that corey will let laurie take the lead here. but clearly, i was overly optimistic. you know what, let's make a couple small bagels. corey: we choose this for a true traditional bagel chip. lemonis: let's do three or four minis. -corey: no, don't do that. -laurie: no? corey: that's very... lemonis: how would you like to do this? i'm gonna follow your lead.

laurie: okay, so let's do the mini bagels. ♪ they look really good, too. cheers. [ bagel chips crunch ] -lemonis: they're good. -laurie: that is delicious. lemonis: you're gonna need to come back to me and say, "it costs this much to make the full-size bagel, this much to make the mini bagel." our next task is meeting with the contractor to discuss the dearborn renovation. everything generating revenue has to happen from this wall to this wall. we need new light fixtures, gonna brighten the place up, paint it, put the floor in, build the cabinetry. in 10 days, we want everything to look jazzy new. it's a tight schedule, but i feel like getting this blueprint right gives us the ability to launch new locations. ♪ and finally, i want to set up corey and laurie with designers to work on a new logo and new signage.

so i'm bringing them to kieffer & co., a company that makes signs for some of the biggest businesses in america. nyc bagel and deli, there's probably one in every city. there's nothing that makes me want to go there today. corey: if a customer sees a change, they're wondering what else changed. they just know nyc bagel deli. tyler: do we have a solid name that we're looking at, then? lemonis: so, we're -- we want "corey's" in the name, so let's establish that. -tyler: right. lemonis: corey may not like the idea of changing the name, but it has to happen. corey, i want you to find a caricature person like you see at, like, a carnival... -corey: yeah. lemonis: you guys have some logo work to do. [ birds chirping ] ♪ lemonis: the sole purpose of coming here is to really start to put thought around the proper way to package the bagel chips. -corey: okay. lemonis: now that we've started developing the bagel chips, it's time to figure out how we're gonna package them. so i'm taking corey and laurie to a local packaging company that specializes in making pouches for food companies.

♪ corey: so do different lines do different things, like some have a gusset, some don't, because that's been my biggest thing with having that bagel stand up. -bob: yes. corey: biggest flaw with... lemonis: so this is important to me that this is your product. and so, this is your thing, not his thing. it's important to tell him. -corey: ...retailer, wholesaler, how it's gonna end up. -bob: exactly, so... corey: and easy resealing. -bob: well it's zippered. right. -corey: zippered. laurie: do you do any type of chip now? bob: yeah, we've done pouches for pita chips, bagel chips. laurie: okay, so they're always with, like, a little foil on the inside. bob: yes, it's polyester -- metallized polyester. -laurie: okay. -corey: on the inside of the bag, is you have a choice if it's foil or if it's different material? bob: you do. you do have a choice. laurie: right. i just asked him that. corey: oh, okay, i wasn't listening. lemonis: the bagel chips are really her thing. he's not as involved in that even though he likes to be involved in every single thing. and so this is really a learning experience for her on what exactly it takes to execute. every time laurie has asked a question,

corey always feels the need to come in and step over her. and in order for this business to grow, she's gonna have to be an active participant, and he's gonna have to be quiet. bob: so, the different style options. something like this. this is your stand-up bottom gusset pouch. or we would do a side gusset pouch with more of a flat-style bottom. lemonis: bob, we're just gonna chat for a minute. so we'll see you on the way out. -bob: okay. great. -lemonis: thank you so much. -corey: thank you, bob. laurie: thank you so much for everything. thank you. lemonis: so what is the name of the bagel chips specifically going to be? laurie: corey's bagel chips. instead of nyc bagel deli, even thought there's nothing against nyc bagel deli. corey: so why would you change it now? laurie: you're the originator of the bagels. corey: the idea behind it was calling it new york, and that's what this is gonna be. laurie: no. corey's. i love that name. you're telling me to drive, i'm driving. -lemonis: i'm following you. -laurie: okay. corey: no. this is what we're doing. ♪

i don't want to take a chance of losing the reputation, the yelp following, the reviews. i'm not prepared to say, "some new guy came in, and now it's different."

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so, you bought those "good enough" paper towels? [daughter laughs] not such a bargain. there's only one quicker picker upper. bounty, the quicker picker upper. corey: no. this is what we're doing. laurie: i definitely want the name corey's bagels. lemonis: corey, it's very important for her to drive this process... -corey: okay. -lemonis: ...and to own it. and laurie, he's used to normally just stepping in front of everybody and just solving it. but this is your project, and if you let him do it, he's just gonna do it. laurie: i know because he always -- like, i'll think something one way, and then he'll say the other way, and it's always that way. lemonis: and so i don't want to move forward with bagel chips if he's gonna drive it. -laurie: okay. -lemonis: i just don't. -corey: you need to drive. -laurie: okay. i will drive. lemonis: i invested in your concept, and he's got his thing. if we want to open up 15 of these

and have a hub-and-spoke model and a commissary and they're all around chicago and you're really, truly investing millions to do that, he is not gonna be able to be distracted by bagel chips. he's just not. corey: i agree with everything you're saying. let's -- you need to take control. -laurie: okay. -corey: because your ideas behind the scenes and at home and in the stores are very vibrant, so let's let you take control. -laurie: okay. corey: let's do that because it is your idea, and it is your baby. -laurie: okay. -lemonis: let's boogie. laurie: all righty. ♪ lemonis: okay, so the reason i brought you guys to highland park... -corey: okay. -lemonis: ...is because i want to show you something. -corey: okay. sure. lemonis: i'm taking corey and laurie to highland park where i own a big warehouse. and today, i'm using it to sell off-price merchandise in the fashion industry, but i've always had bigger plans for it, and i think this business may be a perfect fit. this is just an overflow warehouse

that i use to bring things in and out and process returns from online businesses here. corey: wow. beautiful building. lemonis: yeah, isn't it gorgeous? it'd make a really cool bagel factory. corey: it would. -laurie: are you kidding me? -lemonis: no. -laurie: am i allowed to scream? -lemonis: you can scream. laurie: because i'm being serious, it would be amazing. lemonis: my idea for this building is to build a big commissary -- bagel factory, bagel chips -- the ability to do all of it here -- bag it. they're gonna start ripping up the floor next friday. -corey: wow. -lemonis: the commissary will not only support additional new locations, but can support a wholesale market, as well. and so if i end up putting more money into the commissary or more money into this deal, well, it's gonna be money well spent. the work will take close to six months to complete, but it's gonna be well worth it. the reason i was excited about this is for two people who do love each other very much, this is an opportunity to do something from scratch and the two of you craft it together. corey: you know, i think it's a wonderful fit.

lemonis: your voice has to be heard. laurie: mm-hmm. corey: and she has been in it since day one, and she has been doing a lot of the things behind the scenes that doesn't get, you know, really the gratitude that it deserves. lemonis: i know, but it requires you to actually do it together. -corey: that's fantastic. -lemonis: all right. let's get out of here. -corey: you the man. ♪ lemonis: so what do we have? corey: all right, so, laurie, this is your presentation. go. laurie: i went, and i did what you said to do. lemonis: i'm meeting with laurie to go over the work i asked her to do on the bagel chips. so for a 6-ounce bag of bagel chips, it costs you $0.55. -laurie: mm-hmm. lemonis: i am blown away by how good a job you did. how's the artwork coming for corey's? corey: so we have this as a very, very, very preliminary drawing. but here's my concern -- what is corey's, and who the hell is corey? i don't know that the customer's gonna know that. if i change the name, i may think twice, if i'm that customer, about coming in. what happened to the other guy?

the store has a huge clientele, and it's denoted by the nyc name. we never, ever had an idea of changing the name. i love that it's my name, but in all seriousness, i don't want to take a chance of losing the reputation, the yelp following, the reviews of what we have. i have to get rid of all the wraps on the vehicles. i have to get rid of all the t-shirts. i have to relicense everything, reinspect, new instagram pages, new facebook, new twitter. i'm not prepared to say, "some new guy came in, changed the name, and now it's different," and i must stand very firm on that. ♪ i think our concept would work here. great spot, window's beautiful, front of the house is great. i love where it is. -lemonis: i don't. it's crickets. this location scares the [bleep] out of me.

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changed the name, and now it's different," and i must stand very firm on that. lemonis: it doesn't take a lot to rewrap vehicles and get new t-shirts. corey: i get that, but what about the name? you're picking on the little things, the big thing... lemonis: i have been in multiple cities in the last three months since i've met you,

and i see a new york city bagel on every street corner. there's another new york city bagel here in chicago. corey: not a new york city bagel. -lemonis: what is it called? -corey: new york bagel. lemonis: oh, i'm sorry, i forgot the "c." -corey: that's correct. -laurie: wait, wait, wait. -corey: the "c." -lemonis: and the likelihood of confusion is zero. do people ever walk in and say to you, "oh, i went to your place in skokie"? -corey: they do. lemonis: do they ever go to that place and say, "i went to your place on dearborn"? -corey: they do. lemonis: great. do they ever put reviews on there and you're like, "that's not us"? -corey: they do. -laurie: right. lemonis: i don't want to spend my money and your money and your money to build the brand in a market that somebody else is gonna draft off. i don't like the generic nature of the current name and its lack of specificity or something special, and i feel like there's some underbelly here to why he's resisting. i still don't understand why corey's disappeared. you had built years and years... -corey: to building the brand. -lemonis: ...of building the brand, and then you abandoned it when you bought the business called nyc bagel deli. be honest -- is the reason you didn't bring corey's back because that was the kids' name, because it was just too much to deal with?

corey: i never thought of it till you just said it, but yeah, you might be on to something. it clearly affects me every day. date of birth, date of death, everything. lemonis: if corey doesn't get his mind around this name change, i think it could really hamper my investment. if it truly is a roadblock for him because it ties back to his children, it could be what's potentially causing him to react the way he does all the time, including how he talks to laurie. i really need you to do some soul-searching. -corey: i will. -lemonis: really think about if that's your aversion to it. -corey: i will. -lemonis: all right. let's get out of here. -corey: thank you for your time. lemonis: yeah, buddy. ♪ so what i want to do is really understand your vision for layout here. -corey: okay. lemonis: i'm bringing corey and laurie to the site of the new commissary in highland park. the most important thing is for them to really understand how the customer experience is gonna work. what i'm looking to see here is, people come in, and we take them on the bagel journey... -corey: okay. -lemonis: ...and they understand raw materials and they see the mixer

and they see the kettle. laurie: that would be really cool. like a new york marketplace. -lemonis: okay. and while the work begins, i'm taking corey and laurie to new york city so we can start sourcing new york products. this day is gonna be very focused on finding the right kinds of things to take back to chicago. corey: okay. lemonis: first stop is one of my favorites, junior's cheesecake, and it dates back to the 1950s. -alan: i hope you're hungry. -laurie: okay. wow. alan: we're known as having the best cheesecake, as you know. lemonis: what is that, a cake shake? -alan: yes. -corey: wow, laurie. alan: a black and white milkshake with a brownie explosion cheesecake. alan: this is a strawberry milkshake with a slice of strawberry cheesecake. new york has a certain style. lemonis: adding any of these products is gonna up our game in delivering an authentic new york experience. corey: it's a home run. lemonis: our next stop is hampton coffee in long island. woman: hi. welcome to hampton coffee. -lemonis: how are you? -woman: how are you? lemonis: even though a little over a year ago i made an investment in a coffee company in california, the important thing was keeping this particular business

authentic with new york products. oscar: we're doing a very special blend for you guys. it's called corey and laurie's blend. corey: wow! look at this! oscar: it's stronger but with a lighter roast mixed together, it's an even balance and a delicious cup of coffee you will have. lemonis: having a special blend of coffee that's unique to our establishment while adding cheesecakes from one of new york's most famous places increase the likelihood that somebody would add that on to their order. i don't know that it will raise margins, but the goal behind the whole business is, "how do we grow the average ticket?" my man, thank you. ♪ corey asked me to go with him to check out a new location. he's gung ho to expand, and i want to make sure that we're finding the balance between good business and him getting excited about being the big dog on the park. corey: i think our concept would work here, but a total different clientele than the other two locations. we've never had the opportunity to be near the train.

lemonis: right, but they're funneling in to go to work or funneling out to come to work. so there's probably four, five, six waves of traffic. corey: i think that if you're fast, which is one of the reasons for the window, you can get the train traffic. if you're not, they won't wait. lemonis: i mean, if you look at their menu, there was donuts, drinks, and that's it. -corey: i love where it is. -lemonis: i don't. what time is it right now? corey: right now, i've got almost 11:00, 10:45. lemonis: it's crickets. this location scares the [bleep] out of me. i think until we figure out what the look is, what the feel is, what the brand name is, what the process is, i don't think we should look at anymore. corey: okay. lemonis: where are you guys with the branding? corey: i have it right here. it's a lot of the same, but it's a little bit different, if that makes sense. lemonis: so, is it corey's or is it bagel? bagel! bagel! bagel! that's all i see is bagel. laurie: right. that's what i said. corey: so you do not like the idea... -lemonis: do not. do not. -corey: ...of this? -lemonis: no. -corey: this was an option

because it showed a little bit of both. lemonis: all you essentially did was reprint this, change that from "chicago's own" to "the famous corey's," and take the website and change that. corey: i'm trying to come up with something that will make a simple statement. lemonis: you're so worried that people are gonna accuse you of changing. there was a reason for the name, and if we've departed from history, family, new york city, then just tell me. corey: no, no. no. i think it should be smaller. it shouldn't be as predominant as what we sell. lemonis: i think you're wrong. look at the sign. corey: thank you. just thank you. lemonis: this looks awesome. can we go inside? this looks phenomenal. -corey: thank you.

♪ but he wanted snow for thelace holidays.. so we built a snow globe. i'll get that later. dylan! but the one thing we could both agree on was getting geico to help with homeowners insurance. what? switching and saving was really easy! i love you! what? sweetie! hands off the glass. ugh!! call geico and see how easy saving on homeowners and condo insurance can be. i love her!

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i-never-want-to- leave-here-sale. aka-the-if-i-never- get-out-of-here- it-was-nice-knowing- all-of- you-sale. aka-the-i'm-rethinking- my-position-on-shopping. aka-the-all-these-savings- can-reduce-stress. aka-we-can-get-storage- for-our-storage-sale. aka-the-btw-icymi. aka-the-this-is-too-good- for-a-dad-joke-sale. fomo-irl-ftw-sale. what? yea meatballs, meatballs, meatballs. corey: i think it should be smaller. it shouldn't be as predominant as what we sell. lemonis: i think you're wrong. corey: this is why i've been frustrated for so long on this. lemonis: come here. just you and me for a minute, okay? corey: sure, absolutely. ♪ lemonis: i think that you're worrying a lot that people are gonna think less of you. corey: that's my number-one problem. lemonis: and i'm telling you, people won't think that. corey: but i've done something so long this way that i've almost become, "that's the right way." lemonis: stop that. corey: i'll stop it today, but 100 percent... lemonis: because you literally have -- i'm telling you this, there's no limit to your potential.

corey: so it was me holding me back. it wasn't everything else. -lemonis: yes. yes. they say kids learn when they're small, they're like sponges. you have to just be an adult sponge. corey: it's one of the things i fight all the time. and i don't know that until i met you that i would ever listen to anyone. and now i'm seeing through what you're saying, through the businesses you have, through the success you've had that, yeah, maybe that's a better idea. lemonis: what? corey: to be corey's bagels. i couldn't do that before. -lemonis: let's go. i think it's corey's nyc bagel deli. that's the sign on the front of the building. corey: okay. i'm grateful, and i love that. lemonis: all this stuff has to be implemented when the dearborn location is renovated. all the signage, the whole thing. -corey: okay. -lemonis: let's get out of here. come on. -laurie: all right. ♪

corey: hi, steve. corey kaplan. it's nice to meet you, sir. lemonis: good seeing you again, buddy. i got word that the first draft of samples for the bags and all the paper products are ready so i'm heading over with the kaplans to check it out. laurie: this is beautiful. [ laughs ] come on! it has -- it has the name on it! this is beautiful. corey: this, to me, and i mean this -- laurie went crazy over that bag -- this is a dream come true to me. -laurie: this is all a dream. corey: i can now say, i've got my own coffee thanks to you, we have our own coffee, and now i've got my own cup. this, to me, says, "you've made it." lemonis: it's got celebrating the past and the kids. it's got the love piece, which i know is important to you. and it's got corey's personality. laurie: [ voice breaking ] marcus, i can't tell you thank you -- i can't tell you thank you enough. it's beautiful. -corey: it means a lot. it does. it means a lot. ♪

♪ lemonis: i couldn't see you from a mile away. it was the shoes. corey: oh, my shoes. what's up? laurie: [ laughs ] lemonis: look at the sign. this looks awesome. walking up to the store, i feel like it looks like a totally different business. it's inviting, it's bright, it feels energetic. i like this. stand in front of it. let me see. it is pretty good. -corey: it's pretty close. -laurie: it's awesome. -lemonis: okay. can we go inside? go ahead. ♪ wow. look at that! -corey: [ laughs ]

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happy holidays. enjoy. next customer?

enjoy. ♪ wow. look at that! -corey: [ laughs ] lemonis: when i walk in the store, it looks clean, it's organized, things are in their proper place, and you can actually see that there's a proper flow for the customer. this looks phenomenal. -corey: thank you. -lemonis: it doesn't feel too slick. -corey: no. lemonis: and it doesn't feel too chain-like. it still feels local. it still feels like the old place with some refinements. corey: every corner has attention to detail. "i love you lox." -laurie: amazing. -lemonis: whose idea was that? -corey: laurie's idea, and laurie's idea with the subway tile. -laurie: it's beautiful. -corey: laurie's idea with the lighting, the floor, the cabinets -- laurie's idea. laurie: on the floor. lemonis: the coffee looks amazing. corey: the coffee is amazing. that's the corey loves laurie blend. lemonis: are people buying the cheesecake?

corey: yes. the biggest thing is they want to taste it, so i'm gonna put samples out. lemonis: almost everything in the store feels new york themed and authentic. how are the bagel chips selling? laurie: they're actually -- people are buying two bags. -corey: really. -lemonis: so you've really, like, tripled your revenue. -corey: without a doubt. we're actually making bagels to make bagel chips. lemonis: appropriately, the bagel chips are now at the forefront. so are these the new bags? corey: these were the samples. laurie: everyone says this pops out, and i agree with that. lemonis: it's on point with the brand. the new sample packaging for the bagel chips looks phenomenal. i mean, we look legit. so tell me what you did different. be honest. corey: we adjusted the amount of boiling time, and it's giving you a softer, more user friendly bagel. lemonis: they taste really fantastic. -laurie: right? -lemonis: what we now have is a bagel that tastes perfect -- hard and crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. how long have you guys been open? corey: a week. lemonis: what's changed in revenue, what's changed in the average order?

corey: so the reaction is off the chain. add-on sales are insane. results in at least a 10, sometimes a 15 percent increase in revenue. lemonis: there's a lot of good news happening for corey's bagels. some huge wholesale accounts. wouldn't be surprised if you saw corey's bagels in a lot of stores. corey: if i didn't meet you, we're not as close as we are right now. -lemonis: the two of you? -corey: i mean it. lemonis: your ability to work together, to listen to each other, to respect each other's opinions, that transformation was more important to me than wallpaper and lights. -corey: sure. you showed me something that i didn't know in 52 years. lemonis: my original investment of $200,000 is going for the core operations of the business, but i'll probably have close to $2 million in the commissary, and i expect to get a separate return on that. am i putting a lot of chips in on this deal? you bet. do i think the return could be a monster return? absolutely. but i notice the biggest transformation is with him

and how he sees her as a valuable asset. these two possess the heart and the passion and the work ethic that every small business owner in america should have. ♪ ♪ lemonis: tonight on at a family furniture business with nearly 40 years of history... ana: we have great people, we have great clients, we do a great product. lemonis: ...but the future is growing darker by the day. ana: february, march, april -- we almost couldn't make payroll. lemonis: their margins are paper-thin. what jobs are you making money on, 'cause you're not making money on this. their process is non-existent. lemonis: yeah, really bad. steve: they didn't sand it properly. lemonis: and the founder's poor health... ana: he was diagnosed with parkinson's a couple years ago. lemonis: ...has his daughter living in fear. ana: i don't want to see my dad one day just drop dead. lemonis: if i can't help them build a more stable foundation, this great american success story could come to an end.