may your holidays glow bright and all your dreams take flight. visit your local mercedes-benz dealer today for exceptional lease and financing offers at the mercedes-benz winter event. where i must have eaten like -- no joke -- 14 pies. i have not eaten this once since we filmed the episode. amber: you don't want to try it after investing so much money in this company? lemonis: maybe i should just have a bite. ♪ it's actually pretty good. key west key lime pie co. is one of the countless businesses that i visited during "the profit." let's go make some money! [ horn honking ] and i've traveled the country trying to fix the people... and you do $1 million a year? you should be proud of that. man: but we don't know how to keep any of it. lemonis: ...fix the process... you see? it flimsy.

don't ever make these again. you don't sell them. ...and create a few products. juli: it reduces anxiety and depression. lemonis: i kind of like it. but we can't always fit everything i'm thinking into the show. so tonight i'm gonna give you an inside look at key west key lime pie co., one of my favorites. jim: do you think that's an award-winning key lime pie? lemonis: i do. over the next hour, i'm gonna take you deeper behind the scenes than we've ever gone before. jim: we haven't made a final decision on that. lemonis: this felt like a gunfight. jim: you better be right. lemonis: i know i'm right. lemonis: we're going to hear from employees. tami: when he would blow up, i'd tell him to leave. lemonis: find out what happens after the cameras leave. jim and alison continue to get checks, which irritates the [bleep] out of me. ♪ everything's a dollar! come on in! i want to show you how a crumbling pie company transformed into a sweet success. i'm gonna give you six months' worth of pay. jim: i really don't want to be filmed during this. i really don't. lemonis: my name is marcus lemonis, and this is an inside look at "the profit."

it's kind of crazy for me to watch this because this episode was shot almost six or seven years ago. the reason that i wanted to revisit this episode is so much has changed. and i thought it was important to show people that a business can survive without me. it really speaks to the story of the business is bigger than all of us. and if you have really good people, people that believe in the business and they wake up every day and they live it and they commit themselves to it, that the business can not only survive, but it will evolve. key west key lime pie co. is a playmaker located in beautiful and sunny key west, florida. jim brush... jim: jeff! lemonis: ...and his girlfriend alison sloat bought the company, recipes and all, over 10 years ago for just $1,200 and have grown the business from selling pies on the side of the road to having their key lime pie named the nation's best pie by the american pie council. even though they generate $1.4 million in sales, they have yet to turn a profit.

jim: we really are a victim of our own success right now. ♪ amber: how did you roll up in a golf cart for this episode? 'cause i'm pretty sure... lemonis: same sit-- okay. amber: ...we didn't rent it for production. lemonis: no, i rented the golf cart. i thought, "you know what? i'm going to be like -- i'm going to be really, like, cinematic here. instead of don johnson in his -- in his ferrari, i'm going to roll up in my 'key west golf cart' with my key west outfit." i never rode a golf cart again after that. amber: hi. how are you? lemonis: hi. i'm marcus. amber: amber. nice to meet you. lemonis: nice to meet you. is jim here? amber: yeah. do you want me to go grab him for you? lemonis: that'd be great. amber: sure. the first thing i noticed about key west key lime pie co. when i walk in is there are a ton of random brands taking up most of the store. where's the pie? jim: greetings. lemonis: jim. jim: marcus. lemonis: how you doing? jim: good. nice to meet you. lemonis: good to meet you. well, there's no shortage of everything key lime here. jim: no. lemonis: and so, is all this stuff -- as an example --

is this yours or...? jim: no, that's not our product. it's a lot of companies that do carry that. jim: seems like a bit of a key lime grocery store. jim: it is. one thing people come to the florida keys for are key lime products. lemonis: what kind of margin do you make on all this stuff? jim: these cost me about -- i think they're $2.30, and i sell them for $3.25. lemonis: terrible margins. jim: ...and i sell them for $5.50. lemonis: in a tourist environment like that, you're looking for customers to make impulse buys. quite frankly, i was expecting a 50%-plus margin. when you go to disney world and you buy a soda or you buy a t-shirt, you know that you're paying a premium for the product. that premium is because of the environment that you're in. i don't think jim necessarily understood how to capitalize on that environment. can i try the pie? jim: sure. lemonis: this is just a -- this is the basic deal? jim: just a basic slice of key lime pie. lemonis: what are the ingredients? we have the sweetened condensed milk. second ingredient would be the key lime juice. comes in one-gallon pails. it's already reconstituted. and we put a whipped topping in there, which gives it the creaminess.

it's actually the same topping that's on top of the pie. we put that in there, and it -- lemonis: in the actual... jim: in the actual pie itself, yes. lemonis: and what is that made of? jim: that is a powder product. lemonis: powder. jim: retail price for the pie is $18.99. costs us $3.75 to make a key lime pie. lemonis: and how many slices can i get out of that? jim: typically, get about eight slices out of it. lemonis: uh-huh. jim: and a slice is $4.50. lemonis: margins are good. jim: margins -- very good. lemonis: another thing that we just breezed over really quickly was the fact that he's selling an individual slice for $4.50 and there's eight slices to a pie. so if you look at that math, it's actually $36 of revenue when you break that same pie down into slices. i think what i was really more focused on in that moment is the fact that there wasn't natural ingredients in it. from my perspective, i'd rather have the costs go up by a dollar, but know that i can look people in the face with a sense of authenticity about ingredients. the margins were great. they were still going to be great even if you made things naturally. so, how much will the business do in total revenue this year? jim: the whole company -- $1.4 million. lemonis: oh. jim: non-branded product

will generate probably about $250,000 in gross sales. we still have payroll taxes that we're past due on. lemonis: how much is that? jim: $70,000. lemonis: $70,000 in payroll taxes? jim: yes. lemonis: and so how much do you have in total payables? jim: $66,000. lemonis: whoa. it's about $130,000 that you owe people? jim: yes. lemonis: and how much cash do you have to -- you have $130,000 in the bank? jim: no, no. lemonis: no cash? jim: we run on a day to day. but -- and it's almost been like that since day one. lemonis: of their total revenue of $1.4 million, 80% of the revenue comes from selling pies, which has fantastic margins. the retail store generates 20% of their total revenue, which has terrible margins. i can't figure out why they think it's important to dedicate more than 60% of their space to a part of the business that generates no revenue and no margin. i'd love to see where the pies are made. jim: sure. come on in the back. jeff, you got pies rolling? jeff: yeah, i just started on them. tami: you can't use that on the... jim: yeah, you can. tami: okay. jim: but what is this?

tami: we're going to run out of shrink-wrap today. jim: why? tami: they're out of stock because we waited to order until -- jim: why did we wait? lemonis: because we didn't have the money. jim: jeff, do you have you have an answer for that question? jeff: i have told you that we were... jim: when did you tell me to order it? jeff: like two weeks ago. jim: uh. i call bull [bleep] to that. is there anybody that does anything competent down in the florida keys? lemonis: that was the first time that i had really seen the side of jim that i didn't care for. and now that i know him much better, in my opinion, he was more embarrassed or frustrated by the fact that that was being exposed than him really being a bad guy. is he a tough guy? sure. does he demand a lot from his people? absolutely. is he a bad guy? not usually. jim: i want you to order it today. if they have any problems with it, then they can call me. tami: you want me to order it, even though there may or may not be enough money to pay for it and -- jim: and don't worry about that portion, okay? i'm tired of this bull [bleep] lemonis: jim, what's going on? jim: well, every time i walk back here,

i mean, things just don't get done. you, unfortunately, have not known me except for a short time now. lemonis: yeah, i just got a little preview. jim: and i just want things done -- that's all. and i want it done my way. lemonis: in order for them to execute their job, they have to be able to access the resources they need to do their job. and the fact is, it's math. if there's no money in the account, you can't buy the equipment. and the fact that he's putting that pressure on them is unreasonable. how are we doing? everybody happy? you're not going to have that baby today, are you? tami: two weeks. lemonis: you excited? tami: well, i have 8-year-old twins already. lemonis: you do? tami: so... jim: tami is probably the only one that i say, "okay, you're right," and i let it go. she's a great employee. she does everything that needs to get done. and then she works 2 1/2 days a week at her other job. lemonis: she works two jobs? how much you pay her? jim: about $300 a week right now. i mean, she's got two kids. she got rent and everything. i wish i could pay her more money, but i can't afford it right now. amber: everybody loves tami. let's call tami. lemonis: alright. hey, tami, great to see you. how are you? tami: doing amazing. lemonis: okay, good. so, what was it like working with jim?

tami: jim is a naturally competitive person, and he has the most fun when he's, you know, having a head-to-head with somebody. i'm sure he fired me about 10 times, but that was because, you know, when he would blow up or have a fit, i'd tell him to leave. [ both laugh ] lemonis: right. right. okay, tami, we'll check back with you later. ♪ how are you? stephanie: good. how you doing? lemonis: i'm marcus. stephanie: stephanie. lemonis: nice to meet you. what are these for? stephanie: for the key lime pie that we sell in the stone. lemonis: you guys don't make your own crusts? stephanie: no, we don't. lemonis: why would somebody buy from you when they can buy the crusts? jim, have you ever gotten any complaints about that? jim: we've never had complaint one about the product that we have. i mean, we've won numerous awards with these key lime pies. we sell to macy's. we sell them thousands of key lime pies every year. and the customers in new york love them. lemonis: and i think what that proves is that you're a great marketer. the challenge that i have is i can't invest in something

that isn't proprietary, and here's why -- if you make a pie and there's no secret ingredient or secret recipe, the next guy down the block can make it. think about it this way. you drink coke today. if you go to coke's headquarters, the original formula for coke is deep down in a vault. coke's formula is their proprietary differentiator. i wanted jim to have the same thing with his pie. i'm on my way to big pine, the company's other retail location. i'm going to meet alison, jim's 50-50 partner. i want to find out how this store's doing. jim: the big pine key store. david: hey. how you doing? lemonis: how are you? marcus. david: david. lemonis: nice to meet you. david: nice to meet you. alison: i'm alison. lemonis: nice to meet you. alison: it's an honor to meet you. lemonis: so what makes this location different from the one that i was at earlier on greene street? alison: this store is a small percentage of our business, but we also do all of our shipping here. lemonis: how much business will this store do, this location right here, a year? jim: retail sales, as opposed to the whole company, 10%, 12%. lemonis: how many pies do you make a year? alison: 40,000. lemonis: you make pies in this?

alison: we do not make pies in this location. we only make pies in our greene street location. lemonis: so not only are they not selling a lot of pies out of this location, but the actual location where you're shipping the pies out aren't even made here. think about the inefficiency and the margin that's being lost every step of the way. so, jim told us originally that it cost around $3.75 to make the pie -- that was without labor. now, you had the labor to make the pie, then you had the labor to actually box it up. then you had the labor to load it in the truck and drive it all the way to big pine. and you had the labor to unpack it and actually load it in. now you have to add the labor to take it out of the freezer and put it in the box. every single touch along the way is adding cost over and over and over again. you know that great margin that we thought existed? now we're seeing why it's just leaking out the back door. jim: it's all pretty and everything, but you can't do that for a hundred. you can't do it for 20. lemonis: ultimately, what you want to do is find out, is there a better idea out there?

jim doesn't think so.

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i mean, you have a $1.4 million business. jim: yeah. alison: thank you. lemonis: here's the problem. you guys know that i'm a "people, process, product" guy, and i'm a little disillusioned by the product. i thought, when i came down, i was coming to see a proprietary recipe. i want to partner with people that have the best product, they have a good process, and they're good people.

jim: well, right now, the process and the people we have. lemonis: well, who determined that you have the process? jim: i do. lemonis: i can tell you you don't. you're $130,000 in debt. your business doesn't make any money today, but it generates $1.4 million worth of sales. you can't produce more than 40,000 pies or the system really breaks. alison: correct. lemonis: things have to change. jim: it all depends on what you propose. alison: give us your offer. lemonis: so my offer is, i will put up to $450,000, but the recipe has to be proprietary. i will have 51%. you will have 49%. jim: no, that's not going to happen. never would i do that. lemonis: so what are you opposed to? jim: giving up control of the company. alison: i'm not opposed to that. jim: no, no, no, no. i just am. i am. i just don't like giving up what i started to somebody else. i'm not interested. this is a bunch of bull [bleep] lemonis: alright, so let me ask you a question --

what if we make for a wage, $1 for every pie that we sell? we make a million pies, you make a million dollars. you will have 49% of the stock, and you will have a dollar for every pie that we produce. jim: for the rest of my life. lemonis: for the rest of your life. jim: i just don't like giving up what i started to somebody else. lemonis: what if we flipped it and you were 51% and i was 49% and i got a dollar a pie and you didn't? i would be more than happy to give up 2 percentage points for a dollar a pie. if that control is that important to you, it's not that big a deal for me. sometimes you have to flip the script. it was interesting when i said to him, "i'm willing to go to 49%, but i get the dollar a pie," and all of a sudden he's like, "well, wait a second. are you taking value away from me?" and so that was a negotiating tactic to get him to understand that the offer i was making him i thought was better for him than it was for me. and to prove that point, i was willing to flip it. i'd be glad to work for you. alison: i think it's a --

lemonis: but you're going to pay me first. alison: no, i think it's a control -- i'm sorry to say this, but i think it's a control issue for you. jim: i guess i just don't want to wind up being the face of the company and that's it. alison: i want the dollar of the pie. i think you need to let go of the control issue. jim: this is the way i've been my whole life. okay, maybe it's time to change. alison: and how's that working for you? jim: oh, stop it. amber: what was your feeling about basically negotiate with a couple? lemonis: actually, that's a great question. i think it's different because if it's -- if you're just negotiating with one of them, you're not trying to satisfy two dynamics. and as jim and alison were a couple, but they weren't married. and i wanted to respect the fact that they both needed to be satisfied. and alison tended to be slightly more reasonable. she was looking for safety and security, where jim was looking to make a million dollars. and while jim acted like he had the greatest key lime pie idea in the history of man, he didn't. alison: i think this is the right decision. take my hand and take a leap of faith.

let's do it. ♪ jim: okay. alison: yes? jim: yes. alison: yes. lemonis: we have a deal? jim: we have a deal. alison: we have a deal. lemonis: we have a deal. good. it's time to clear out the small-margin generic items from the store. so here's what we need to do -- box it up and get it out. tami: alright. box it up, get it out? lemonis: yep. jim: no, we haven't made a final decision on that yet. lemonis: yeah, we have. jim: have you done your demographics on people who want to come in and get slushies and pie bars and -- and key lime soda? lemonis: i'm gonna get you whatever you need for amnesia. remember what i said -- if we don't make it, we're not selling it. jim: you don't think people should have an opportunity to buy these things? tami: not here. it's all the same [bleep] that they have everywhere. jim: i don't -- i don't agree with that. lemonis: so, tami, what was your opinion of what was happening the first couple of days that i came? tami: it was definitely a very emotional, big whirlwind. you've taken something that was jim's baby

and that he had so much emotionally invested in and ripped it away from him. and he's already, you know, a very sensitive guy. lemonis: yeah. if we don't make it, we don't sell it -- period, end of discussion. i mean, we need to just get done, like, today. jim: where are we gonna put it? lemonis: we're gonna liquidate it, but we need to start -- jim: but why don't we leave it on the shelves and mark down the pricing -- as people come in, we get rid of it that way? lemonis: because i don't want to wait till next christmas. i have this debate with people all the time 'cause they get frustrated with me that i'm liquidating inventory. what you have to factor in is two things -- number one, the amount of cash that's being tied up and what's going to free up and how it's going to go into the business, but more importantly, the opportunity cost -- that is, what we're losing in opportunity because of this. tami: marcus, what are we gonna do with this stuff now? lemonis: sell it. why don't we put up a couple signs? and let's start working on that. jim: tami make up signs. everything's a dollar. lemonis: oh. jim's okay with it. ♪

if we don't make it... tami: we don't sell it. lemonis: everything's a dollar! come on in! how you doing? how you doing? woman: fine. lemonis: everything's a dollar! [ indistinct conversations ] two hours. ♪ some of that product had been there for two or three years. so, one of the first lessons that i have to admit after being in the business for six years is that there was a middle ground between what jim and alison had with all the products in their stores and emptying out completely. and as the years have gone by, we have started to insert other products because they wanted to grow the average ticket. the average ticket is an important thing to grow in your business over time. if you see one hundred customers in a given day and they spend an average of $10, every additional quarter, nickel, dime, dollar that you get out of that customer doesn't require you to have more transactions. you're just getting a larger share of their wallet. then all you're doing is driving additional revenue through a fixed cost structure that already exists.

right now, i'm going to show you a deleted scene. in order to really understand what this business was competing with, i wanted jim and alison to understand how we had to differentiate ourselves from everybody else. so i took them to a local pie shop. take a look. ♪ can i buy a couple pieces of pie? [ indistinct conversations ] this is pretty good pie. where did you guys get the recipe from? woman: kermit's grandmother's. lemonis: kermit's grandmother's? woman: yes. lemonis: the reason that i like coming to places like this is i want to see what the competition is doing. alison: sure. lemonis: because i want to make sure that i don't wake up one day and find out that i got beat because i didn't think of something. jim: i understand that. lemonis: part of what i want people to do when they go in and look at the competitor is to really understand what the competitor's doing in running their business. how do they merchandise? what's their product assortment? what's the customer experience like? what are the visuals? and i'm not looking for you to copy what they do. i'm looking for you to enhance or differentiate yourself

from what they do. what's been your secret to success here? man: trying to sell the best quality product that we can make. lemonis: and then the ingredients, the filling itself -- that's all yours? you have your secret recipe? man: no, i don't have a secret recipe. my recipe's right on my bottle of juice. lemonis: how about the crust? is that -- man: that's a keebler crust. lemonis: here's the good thing -- now that we leave here, we know what our game plan is. alison: okay. lemonis: and our thought of having everything be our own in our pie... alison: yes. lemonis: now it truly differentiates us. so when you walk away after going to your competitor, i want you to come up with one thing that clearly differentiates you from them. what i want to do is i rented out this commercial kitchen, and i hired three chefs. we got to figure out this recipe thing. key west key lime pie co. has been using powdered mixes and premade crusts in order to save money. i hired three of the best pastry chefs in the key west area to help me come up with a new and better product. what we really want to do is come up with a proprietary recipe

and know that we have a recipe that will last for the ages, something we can pass on. jim: well, i got to say, marcus, my recipe has stood the test of time, too. this has been around for decades. lemonis: and when people come into the store, they expect to get the pie that was from scratch, and they're not getting that, so we can't do that anymore. jim: that is a tried and true product. lemonis: would you a keebler crust? man: no, i would make my own. lemonis: 2.5 million people visit key west here. you only sell 400,00 pies. alright, guys, well, listen, can we get started? man: oh, yeah. man #2: sure. lemonis: that's be great. man: absolutely. ♪ lemonis: what is this base? man: this is 50 graham crackers, 50 oreos, and macadamia paste. jim: it's well and good to experiment, but... man: there's no sweetened condensed milk in this. yeah, it's just straight eggs, sugar, and lime juice. jim: i don't see it working. man #2: so, i'm doing a cereal crust. it's half honey nut cheerios, half graham cracker. for the filling, my secret ingredient is vanilla ice cream. lemonis: okay. man #2: now, with the ice cream

going in, i up the number of eggs. lemonis: that one's good. jim: this crust -- i don't get a whole lot of flavor from the crust. it's all pretty and everything, but you can't do that for a hundred. you can't do it for 20. lemonis: we can have our own preferences. i have mine. you have yours. but what matters is the consumer's opinion, right? they sign our paychecks. they pay our rent. so i'd like to take these pies back to the store and let people taste them and see what they think. jim: we're gonna have a battle on this one. lemonis: see, jim was missing the point of this exercise. ultimately, what you want to do in any particular business is find out, is there a better idea out there? does somebody else have something that can make our business better? jim doesn't think so. i'm not putting $450,000 in the business so i can fund losses. that business would not have been able to stay open for more than four or five more months.

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but not every tomato ends in the same kind of heinz ketchup. because you can't be everyone's favorite ketchup without making a ketchup for everyone. because you can't be everyone's favorite ketchup damom, look!get sare you okay?? head home this holiday with the one you love. visit your local mercedes-benz dealer today for exceptional lease and financing offers at the mercedes-benz winter event. ♪ lemonis: ooh, look at my cool glasses. with the help of three professional pastry chefs, we've come up with three original takes

on the key lime pie. i've asked the employees to not only taste, but give us feedback on the creative process while we develop new recipes. let's try this one. ♪ jim: no. tami: tastes like a cereal. woman: it is. it's... tami: yeah. alison: i like the crunchiness. the flavor of the crust isn't that exciting. lemonis: alright, let's go to the next one. woman: okay. ♪ woman: it tastes like lemon meringue pie. alison: it's too sweet. lemonis: okay. did you like that crust as something different? woman: i like when jim make his crust, like, for special events and stuff like that. lemonis: makes it. jim, i didn't know you made a crust. woman: yes, he do. jim: i do. for special events, sometimes, we'll make it. lemonis: you see, that's why people need to give more information up front. if jim would have said to me at the negotiation, "hold on. forget keebler. i have my own crust. i want more money. i'm willing to put my recipe into the deal," probably could have gotten $1.25 a pie. by the way, jim's crust is amazing.

why am i just finding out now that you make your own crusts? i did not know that. jim: i can't mass-produce my own. lemonis: it's my job to figure out... yeah. i'll figure it out. i want to taste your crusts. jim: okay. ♪ jim: hey, marcus. what's going on? lemonis: how's it going? jim: good. what's going on? alison: okay. lemonis: you know those old western films where, like, people are going to duel and they come out from behind the buildings and there's, like, this dust and everything is like -- they got their gun, and they're ready? that's what this felt like to me. ♪ this felt like a gunfight. well, i wanted to dig into the financials of this location. how much business do we do here? jim: this story does about $85,000 to $100,000 a year. lemonis: and you did how much last year? jim: the whole company -- $1.4 million. lemonis: so it's less than 10% of your business? jim: correct. lemonis: to have a store open that doesn't make any money -- it just doesn't make any sense. so we're going to close it, and we're gonna close it today. jim: what -- what -- what am i going to be doing?

lemonis: you're going to make a pie crust. you're going to go out on the road, and you're gonna help us sell pies commercially to grocery stores and other people, and you're going to be the face of the business. but i do not need you making decisions 'cause i don't want another store that loses 25 grand a year. jim: we've got a three-year lease left on this. lemonis: well, we got to sublease it. we got to figure it out. this business doesn't have the working capital to withstand it. and i'm not putting up to $450,000 in the business so i can fund losses. jim: you're coming in here, and you're telling me -- lemonis: look, jim. jim: no, wait. lemonis: we're closing. jim: you're coming in here. you're telling me you're closing the store. lemonis: that's right. jim: okay. what are you gonna pull next? i mean, what -- what's gonna happen tomorrow? lemonis: whatever it takes to be very successful. alison: yeah, but are we gonna -- lemonis: whatever it takes, because the plan that you guys have had didn't work. jim: so i get to -- i get to go to sleep at night and, you know, it's like -- lay there in bed and go, "what the hell is gonna happen tomorrow?" lemonis: here's what you get to do you -- you get to go to sleep at night and know that your irs bill's paid. you get to go to sleep at night and know that your payables are paid. you get to go to sleep at night and know that you're actually going to make money. i'm going to do whatever it takes to put a manager in charge that meets my standards so that you don't have to be there... jim: i don't like surprises like this. lemonis: ...seven days a week. well, you know what?

you're going to continue to be surprised. you're also going to be surprised when you get a check at the end of the year and you can actually put it in the bank. let's restate the facts here. the business was not making money prior to my arrival. there was a tax-collector bill. there really was no money in their bank account, and the payables were almost $100,000 past due. those are the facts. the reality of it was, is that that business would not have been able to stay open for more than four or five more months. and it may or may not work out, but i can say to you confidently that they're better off today than they were or they would have been had we not done a deal. jim: he's the one who's responsible for the rest of our lives right now. we understand that? lemonis: well, no, you're responsible for the rest of your lives. jim: no, but if you're -- lemonis: i'm responsible for your key lime pie business -- i'm not responsible for your life. we want to shut something down. you're going to go with it. that's it. we're closing the store. we're done. i'm not talking about it anymore. jim: can't put up with this [bleep] anymore. ♪

lemonis: in order for you to be able to have a good peace of mind, i wanted to give you six months' worth of pay. tami: that $15,000 paid my hospital bill to have christopher. jim: even the fact that i am a control freak, (vo) this new year, get the phones everyone wants on the 5g america's been waiting for. verizon 5g is next level. now get one of our best 5g phones on us when you buy one and get $500 when you switch. plus, select unlimited plans include disney+, hulu, and espn+. 100% obsessed with "the mandalorian."

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i know we are hemorrhaging so [bleep] bad. it hurts me to see this -- it really, really does. and when i wake up every day and i know that this [bleep] store is losing this much money, and i walk into duval street, and i'm like, "this place looks like [bleep]" because i'm very proud and passionate about what we do, it [bleep] hurts. lemonis: it's below your standards. jim: it is, but because of the resources that we've lacked, i get up and i go, "why can't i fix this?" i'm a smart person -- i'm not [bleep] stupid -- but i can't fix it. lemonis: look, i understand that business owners get scared. change is hard for all of us. it's hard for me, too. but sometimes when you're going into a business

that is hemorrhaging, as jim just acknowledged, you do have to make radical changes, and they have to be quick, and they have to be fast. it's like ripping the band-aid off. my relationship with jim dramatically changed in this moment where he acknowledged that he knew it was the right thing, but that it was emotionally troubling for him. what we have to do is bring it all back together and tighten it down and go to one facility and really refine the process. and honestly, jim, you're not a failure. this location's a failure, this business idea was a failure, but that doesn't make you a failure, okay? i know you're struggling. you'll be alright. okay? alison: yeah. yeah, yeah. jim: start packing [bleep] up. ♪ lemonis: i'm gonna want to have reclaimed wood everywhere. man: okay. lemonis: 'cause it feels to me a little more natural and island-like. jim: i like that. lemonis: i want the half-drywall to go all the way down, and the difference between here and here... man: yeah. lemonis: ...is glass.

when we get down to here, i actually want to do a counter. so people can sit here. four seats. jim: okay. lemonis: the glass will stop wherever the production stops. jim: right. lemonis: i'm changing the layout to maximize the floor space for pie sales. i'm also bringing the kitchen up front so that consumers can see that it's handmade and all natural. by expanding the seating and adding a viewing station, i want consumers to be able to have a unique experience watching us make pies and understand what goes into each one. this all gets blown out 'cause all this will be gone. you're not gonna have the dry goods. look at all the space you just picked up. we'll put coolers and refrigerators along that back, so it'll be pies, pie bars -- whatever we want to do. i forgot to tell you that, yes, i brought the production up front so that customers can see it and it's interactive, but i also brought the kitchen up front so i can use the back to solve for the problem that big pine had, which was all the shipping. and then, along that back wall there is the menu wall. not only are we changing the look and feel of the store,

but we're also changing the pie so that it's all natural and proprietary. i learned from the employees that jim actually makes his own crust. i want to taste it. so it would cost $1.30 to make it fresh. jim: mm-hmm. lemonis: ...versus 98 cents. it's 32 cents more on a product you sell for $19. a guy like you who knows how to make a crust doesn't need a 98-cent piece of garbage when it's 30 cents more. with the extra cost of labor and materials, the new pie crust is going to cost $1.30, 32 cents more than the premade one. but our product will now be a real standout. because of that, i know we'll sell more. ♪ part of the reason why i wanted jim to actually dig in and make his own pie crust is we would be able to figure out how to mass-produce it. but i wanted him to feel like he still had his fingerprints on the business. there was nothing that specifically spoke to who jim was in the actual pie.

and that makes a big difference for a business owner. the issue that i had before is that the filling had a powder substance. our pie filling also has to be revamped. i want an all-natural pie filling that tastes amazing. so, this is the big difference. jim: this is the big difference, a dairy, all-natural whipping ingredient, okay? lemonis: more expensive? jim: it is more expensive. it's about three times the cost. lemonis: okay. oftentimes in business, people think you can make money by raising prices. in this case, we're gonna make money by raising volume. i'm actually going to lower the price of the pie. everybody in town sells their pie for $18.95, and everybody's crust is premade. ours is homemade, our ingredients are all-natural, and our pie is $16.95. i'm going to beat them on all fronts. historically, most of the business came through the retail store. and as you look at recent changes, most of it's actually coming from online and shipping across the entire country. in fact, we ship to 48 states. ♪

what are you doing? tami: [ laughs ] inventory. lemonis: inventory? is there anything you don't do? tami: no. lemonis: i have to tell you, we need you here. i got to get some stuff done, and you're gonna be our leader here, okay? tami: okay. lemonis: but in order for you to be able to have a good peace of mind, i wanted to give you some money. i'm gonna give you six months' worth of pay. okay? tami: [ laughs ] lemonis: and when you come back, you will be fully in charge of this location, and i'm going to pay you $1,000 a week so you don't have to bartend, if that's okay? tami: [ crying ] lemonis: okay? i'm gonna give you a check, and it should help you just kind of just be able to rest, take care of your baby, and then when you come back, you're gonna bust somebody's ass. tami: [ laughs ] lemonis: alright? okay? tami: wow. thank you. amber: tami, what did getting that money mean to you? tami: that $15,000 paid my hospital bill

to have christopher, and it took the strain off. it allowed me the ability to have a little bit in the bank and not be so worried about the weekly check. jim: i really don't want to be filmed during this. i really don't. lemonis: okay. jim: i'm not feeling good right now. lemonis: the worst thing that a participant in our show can ever tell the crew is to stop filming. if you're looking to take your business to the next level, log on to... president and co-owner of happy howie's dog treats.

we make all natural dog treats and we're growing really fast. so fast, we were maxing out production. that's why i chose the spark cash card from capital one. cause i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy. last year i redeemed $21,000 in cash back... seriously, $21,000. which i used for new equipment, so we can feed even more dogs. thanks to my spark card, we're in over 4,000 stores across the country. what's in your wallet?

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♪ jim: hey, what's up? tami: marcus wrote me a check for $15,000 so that i can have some time for maternity without being stressed out over my bills, and i'm going to be the manager and that i will be paid $1,000 a week so that i don't have to have a second j jim: [ sniffles ] tami: uh. jim: how many times through the years did i tell you i wanted to do that for you? tami: i know. lemonis: this is another example of showing what a good guy jim is. he did want to do this for her, and he just didn't have the resources to do it. and it's important that jim gets credit. jim likes to play tough guy, but he's actually a real softie. and you can see the love that he has for people, and this right here -- it demonstrates that. jim: [ sighs ] all this time you put up with all my [bleep] i was hoping, one day, it'd pay off for you. tami: yeah. jim: [ sniffles, sighs ] tami: [ crying ]

jim: you're stuck with me all these years. amber: tami, you could tell you and jim had a really great relationship. tami: jim was an absolute rock for me. i never felt like i was... being treated less than i was worth with jim at all, ever. i knew that he loved me and still loves me, and i knew that he was doing the best that he could. and that was our goal, was to just do the best that we could. ♪ lemonis: i brought in a team of workers to completely gut this place. this is one of our biggest renovations to date, at just over $200,000. [ cash register dings ] we're renovating all the walls and floors at just over $38,000. jim: well, we could also run it along there. ♪ [ nail gun fires ] lemonis: that place was gutted. gutted. jim: this is where it's all gonna get set, because this is where the customer pickup area is gonna be.

lemonis: the kitchen has been totally renovated and updated with new equipment and new appliances at a cost of $95,000. i know these changes will draw in more customers, which ultimately means more dollars. ♪ [ indistinct conversations ] lemonis: ugh. that sweat-- ohh! the seater now? woman: where is it? lemonis: ashes to ashes, dust to dust. i'm thrilled with the renovations. i've spent over $200,000 to convert what used to be a key lime mini-mart to now a key west, one-of-a-kind destination. the clutter retail space has been replaced with a comfortable seating area to accommodate more customers and more profits. i brought the pie-making process to the front of the store to put on a show for customers while they're being made.

no more keebler crusts and no more powdered mixes. the biggest change are our products. no longer do we sell any product made from other companies. instead, we've added a new dessert station and a beverage bar, using only the freshest ingredients. if we don't make it in the store, we don't sell it. and as far as our pie is concerned, jim has spent weeks perfecting our proprietary recipe with all-natural ingredients -- no more keebler crust, no more powdered filling. ♪ that was really good. your original pie wasn't bad, but the fact that we didn't make all the ingredients was an issue for me. jim: do you think that's an award-winning key lime pie? lemonis: i do. alison: what happens if macy's says, "it's not the same pie. we don't want it anymore"? lemonis: then i'll take the 600 pies that macy's bought and sell them to somebody else, because i think there's a bigger market for an all-natural dessert than there is for a chemically infused dessert.

tami: jim is a perfectionist, and he's a very culinary person. the homemade crust was something i think that he had always wanted -- it just -- real -- you know, financially, it wasn't feasible. the end of the day, the product is definitely improved, but he wouldn't have been able to do that on his own. these look good. woman: yeah. lemonis: and so what? what's happening? woman: the window plates to go up on the front doors here. lemonis: oh, these came out great. jim, what do you think? jim: what's up? what is that? lemonis: it's the new logo. jim: really? lemonis: yeah. you obviously don't like it. jim: uh. that's an awful big persian lime. do i have any say-so in whether or not we can use the old logo? lemonis: sure, we can talk about it. jim: just talking about it's not gonna do anything. lemonis: well, it's right there. jim: yeah, i know -- it's right there. lemonis: and so there's a little bit of history, right? jim: there was a lot of history. there's a lot of history. lemonis: and a little bit of new. i want people to know we don't have keebler pie crusts. jim: can i -- can i sit down for a minute?

seriously, no. seriously. i'm looking at you, and your hands are turning red on me. seriously. i really don't want to be filmed during this. i really don't. lemonis: okay. jim: i'm not feeling good right now. lemonis: the worst thing that a participant in our show could ever tell the crew is to stop filming. okay? that's like almost saying, "please keep filming." is that too inside -- too much inside information? maybe. oh, well. they've made, since the deal was done, hundreds of thousands of dollars. that was the deal that i made, and it's upsetting. ♪ good moves.

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i really don't. lemonis: okay. jim: i'm not feeling good right now. lemonis: okay. ♪ alison: do you want an ambulance? lemonis: you want to go get some fresh air? jim: yeah, let me walk outside. lemonis: okay. jim: walk outside with me. ♪ lemonis: i know that change is tough, but to jim, it's absolutely terrifying. i've turned his world completely upside down. hey, you're putting yourself under too much stress. jim: yeah, i know. lemonis: okay. and so here's the deal -- and i know you know this and you put yourself under a lot of pressure. remind me a lot of my dad. i think the place looks pretty darn good. jim: i think it looks beautiful. lemonis: and i think you should be proud of yourself. so let it go a little bit and take a deep breath. we're gonna make a lot of money, and everything's not perfect, but that's okay. jim: but i want it that way. lemonis: i know you do.

but i'm very proud of you. i tell you that from the bottom of my heart. ♪ ♪ yes, we're open. tami: we are. come on in. lemonis: come on inside. we're officially open. [ crowd cheers ] jim: how's everybody today? woman: i would like a piece of key lime pie. do you want one, too? woman #2: yeah, a slice. jim: looking good, looking good, guys. kids are working well together. lemonis: you know, they are. jim: they are. lemonis: it's a good vibe. jim: your idea of having this -- i mean, it's not a new concept, but i have to agree with getting rid of all the other stuff. 20% of our sales was 80% of our inventory. lemonis: yeah. jim: which every time i looked at that, i'm like, "i have to keep buying this stuff." lemonis: it's like a dead weight. jim: it was a vortex that i just couldn't get myself out of. lemonis: yeah. jim: but now it's like people are coming in, and they're going, "this is all i want."

lemonis: the transformation of people is usually what makes the business go. you can go in, and you can change the process, and you can change the product, but if you can't get the people to see things differently, it ultimately doesn't matter. and i love the fact that a business owner can make that leap and really come across the other side and recognize that what they were doing before wasn't necessarily terrible, but there's always a better way. i really believe that, in this particular business, we've changed the product and it's now fantastic, we've really improved the process, but we've probably had the greatest impact on the people. jim: bye, guys. thank you. lemonis: look at jim -- happy, saying "bye" to everybody. and he realizes that, if he lets go, things will always work out. i would say this one's a success. alison: i'm extremely excited. jim: i haven't had anybody tell me what to do for 20 years. lemonis: yeah, well, now tami's telling you what to do. jim: [ laughing ] now tami tells me what to do. tami: we have work to do, guys. jim: no, no, no. tami: come on. jim: you are a pain in my ass. you know that? [ laughs ] lemonis: one more question, 'cause i know everybody wants to know this --

the number-one question i get is, how is tami? where is she? can you give everybody a little update? tami: i'm in port angeles, washington. we moved here two years ago. the three kids and i and my partner are all doing amazing. we live on just about 4 acres with chickens and bees. we're working on getting turkeys next year. and i truly feel like i'm where i'm supposed to be, doing what i'm supposed to do. lemonis: thanks, tami. it was great hearing from you. we're super proud of you. take care. bye-bye. tami: bye. lemonis: i think what's really important is the evolution of what's happened with the company. and seven years later, the business is still thriving. through two hurricanes and a pandemic, it's still there. and tami was a big part of why the business is able to still be here today. and her life is, in my opinion, better than ever. jim and alison continue to get checks, which irritates the [bleep] out of me. amber: they're sitting back, enjoying a lifestyle where they make how much a year on just a dollar a pie, would you say? lemonis: without putting any money in, without working a day, without even living in key west,

hundreds of thousands of dollars. and that was the deal that i made. i don't love the deal. but when i came into this business many, many years ago, my goal was to see it not only survive, but to thrive. and i feel like it's mission accomplished. i didn't know anyone who wished anna any harm. nobody! she was stunning, modern-like. she had that personality-- that happiness from within. narrator: men found anna irresistible. i see her, my angel of light. well, i called her my muse. narrator: they wrote her poetry, gave her gifts. josh mankiewicz: how much money did he give anna? $46,000. is he some kind of sugar daddy? reuben mankin: that's what it appears to be. she was found dead in her house. she's lying on the ground, blood coming out of her mouth. jayshree bihari: who would do this to her? narrator: with so many men in her life,