woman: ♪ i'm just focused on me ♪ ♪ i'm just focused on me ♪ lemonis: so we're here in brooklyn, new york, one of the bustling areas in america, and it's become a real foodie town. now, when you think of new york, you think of pizza or hot dogs or pretzels or all the other fun stuff -- cheesecake. you don't think about crabs, but there's one business that is knocking it out of the park, and it's critically acclaimed and doing a ton of business. and they reached out not because they're in trouble but because they want to grow. the business is called crabby shack. tonight... you're one of the few businesses that survived the pandemic. ...a brooklyn hotspot run by two dynamic friends. this is good. they love each other like sisters. and when your husband passed, who filled that void? gwen: fifi was 100% supportive.

lemonis: and they fight like them, too. fifi: what i don't like about what gwen does is she says no so fast, she doesn't let me say everything, and she'll be like, "no, no, no." so i just -- gwen: that's not true. lemonis: this business could be the next big thing... lemonis: holy -- whoa! fifi: wow! lemonis: $2 million in revenue last year. ...but only if i can get them on the same page before they claw at each other for respect. fifi: i feel like i lack a bit of confidence in myself. lemonis: what i worry about is how the two of you see each other. gwen: she's unapologetic. i don't like it. gwen: okay. okay. lemonis: ultimately, that's the thing that i think holds the business back more than anything. i'm marcus lemonis and i risk my own money to help businesses. i love investing in american businesses. woman: i just don't want anything to really change. lemonis: it's not always easy, but i do it to create jobs. i do it to make money. we have a deal? let's rock and roll. man: yeah! [ cheering and applause ] lemonis: this is "the profit."

gwen: how are you guys doing? woman: this is a blt fan. fifi: you won't be disappointed. i promise. woman: ♪ working my fingers down to the bone ♪ ♪ i've been building my kingdom up on my ♪ lemonis: best friends fifi and gwen quit their very good jobs to follow their dreams of opening up a crab restaurant in 2014. woman: two honey butter cornbreads. fifi: i initially wanted to open a crab restaurant just because i loved crab, and there wasn't any crab restaurants in new york at the time. gwen: crabby shack is your destination for all things crab. the seafood is astronomical. woman: ♪ ooh-hoo, make you a believer ♪ ♪ you-hoo gotta dig a little deeper ♪ gwen: do we have, um, lemon juice defrosted? i can be bossy. fifi: i am the emotional one. we really do balance each other out. [ laughter ] there's a number of things that we want to do. we want to scale. but how and what is the best way to do that? we want to make our mark. lemonis: they believe their brand, crabby shack, is ready to go nationwide.

i'm here to see if i can help them. ♪♪ welcome to crabby shack! fifi: aah! gwen: hi! lemonis: did i scare you? amari: yeah, you did. that's the excitement we need to have. [ laughter ] come on! fifi: how are you? lemonis: good to see you. fifi: nice to meet you. lemonis: i'm marcus. gwen: oh, i'm gonna come around. fifi: fifi. lemonis: fifi? nice to meet you. fifi: it's nice to meet you. gwen: hi. i'm gwen. lemonis: gwen? gwen: can i get a hug, too? lemonis: yes, ma'am. nice to meet you. gwen: nice to meet you, too. amari: i'm amari. lemonis: oh, you're getting a hug, too? okay. how you doing? nice to meet you. amari: nice to meet you, too. lemonis: this is a nice spot. gwen: thank you. fifi: thank you. lemonis: when did you build it? gwen: 2014. lemonis: you're one of the few businesses that survived the pandemic. gwen: we are. you know, last year we did $2.2. lemonis: and the year before was...? fifi: $1.3. lemonis: so you're one of the few business-- restaurants in america that actually almost doubled your business during the pandemic. gwen: we were the only crab restaurant that stayed open in town. lemonis: what's amazing to me is that while all these restaurants across america

were struggling through the pandemic, they took a chance by staying open and doubled their business. that shows me that they're risk takers, but they're smart about it. so whose idea was this? gwen: it's her idea. fifi: i was a fashion stylist. i just love crab. gwen: so, i worked at bad boy entertainment. i was vice president of a&r and a&r admin for sean "p. diddy" combs. lemonis: look at you! gwen: yeah. when fifi came to me with the idea, there weren't any crab restaurants in new york city area. lemonis: so you both left high-paying jobs to open up a restaurant, which neither of you had any experience doing. gwen: yeah. easy. fifi: [ laughs ] gwen: all of our friends were like, "what are you doing?" fifi: "don't do it." gwen: "don't do it." i mean, no one was behind us. lemonis: so, what's the number-one-selling item on the menu? gwen: the crab roll is numero uno. lemonis: do i order with you, sir? amari: yeah. lemonis: what is your role here? amari: i work front of house, and i do whatever... lemonis: let's see. so, i'll have an alaskan snow crab order. gwen: get him the platter, but i would do a mix.

lemonis: do you guys want to order for me? gwen: [ laughs ] can we? [ laughs ] lemonis: actually, go ahead. gwen: so then i'm going to suggest a clobster roll. fifi: oh, the blt. gwen: we'll do a crab mac and do a quarter pound of the shrimp. lemonis: is this all mine? amari: yes! lemonis: i'm going to try the crab side. what kind of crab is it? fifi: alaskan snow. lemonis: mmm. gwen: that's my favorite. lemonis: delicious. that's the clobster, right? gwen: yes. lemonis: i'll give you credit for the size of the lobster. i don't feel like i'm getting fine pieces, just huge chunks. which one is this? this is the lobster blt? gwen: it's the blt. yep. ♪♪ this is good. gwen: oh, wow. fifi: yeah. lemonis: do you make this soup, or you buy it? gwen: oh, no. we make everything. lemonis: that's really good. when i go into a new business, particularly a food business, i try to sample all the food, but in this particular case, i ate all the food,

and i like the fact that the presentation was fresh. it all looked very well thought out, and for people without restaurant experience, they clearly have this figured out. i think your food is spectacular. can i see what it looks like back there? ♪♪ gwen: so, this is la cocina. this is marcus. lemonis: hi, guys. man: hi. come in. lemonis: this is small. i'm blown away that this business can do $2.2 million out of a 210-square-foot kitchen. i couldn't even imagine what it would do if it had an extra couple hundred square feet. ¿todo bien? man: everything is fine. lemonis: ¿no necesitas nada? man: nothing. lemonis: your food was excellent. man: thank you, brother. lemonis: thank you, both of you. gwen: aw, my son is checking on me. lemonis: how old is your son? gwen: he is 13. lemonis: is it just the two of you in the house? gwen: yes. my husband passed away. ed. up there, see his name? lemonis: i'm sorry. i'm really sorry. gwen: thank you. thank you very much. lemonis: it's a lot of pressure. fifi: it is. gwen: it is. i'm the sole breadwinner, so everything is riding on the crabby shack.

lemonis: you have kids? fifi: i do -- just one. lemonis: how old? fifi: 8. lemonis: the two of you have your hands full. gwen: we do. we do. fifi: yeah. lemonis: i'm blown away by the fact that these two women who not only are business partners but you can tell are friends are also multitasking. they're working moms and they're running a successful business, and that's a challenge that i can't necessarily understand but i definitely have respect and admiration for. why did you guys call me? fifi: i feel like we've got a great brand. why -- why aren't we -- gwen: [ laughs ] fifi: the sky is the limit. gwen: fly. fifi: i want to fly, you know? gwen: yes. fifi: and we want -- you know, we want to see crabby shack everywhere. we need a strategic partner that believes in us and can kind of help and coach us. lemonis: and how many employees here? fifi: 13, including us. lemonis: how are you? raya: i'm good. how are you? lemonis: i'm marcus. raya: i'm raya. lemonis: and, raya, what do you do here? raya: pretty much manage the store. lemonis: you're the manager? and how long have you been here? raya: seven years, since the grand opening. lemonis: you've been here since the beginning?

raya: yes. lemonis: and you have to work with amari every day? raya: not every day. thank god. no. i really love amari, but he can slack. like -- lemonis: he doesn't work that hard? raya: no. he used to, but he's just getting way too comfortable. amari: i mean, i don't -- lemonis: now he's crying. amari: i'm not cr-- raya: he's not crying. crocodile tears. he is not crying. gwen: [ laughs ] lemonis: so, what could amari do better? raya: um, his customer service, be less on this phone. amari loves to brag, like, "oh, i refilled the fridge! oh, i did this!" and i'm like, "um, that is your job. what you want -- applause, standing ovation? what you want from me? this is what you're supposed to do." amari: i know, but, like, at the end of the day, from a manager, you want to hear, like, "you know, you're doing good." at one point, i was excited to work. crabby shack was like my home away from home. gwen: amari is -- he's the baby of the family. he gets away with murder. fifi: and the girls hate it. gwen: yeah, the other staff members tend to get mad because we baby him, but he has such a good heart and we just love him so much. fifi: during the pandemic, everybody bolted.

everybody got sick. gwen: absolutely. fifi: everybody left except amari. raya: we're a big family. like, we love each other, but we fight like family does, too. lemonis: do you want to learn how to manage? amari: [ chuckles ] yes. it would be nice to have a different role. lemonis: there's one thing that's clear about brooklyn and the crabby shack -- they don't hold back in criticizing each other in front of other people. everybody in the building can say what they want about amari, but here's the thing -- when covid hit and there was nobody around to work, he was the one person showing up every day, helping them actually generate the $2.2 million. that's somebody worth investing in. ♪♪ so what we're trying to think about is how do we generate more revenue. gwen: we want to sell our sauces. we want to -- we make our chipotle. we make our wasabi. we make our lemon. and that's the dry spice. fifi: that's what we use to cook our favorite fish. lemonis: this is really good. it's fresh. fifi: but if you put that on just a branzino, you don't need anything else. ♪♪ lemonis: those are good. those are different.

this feels more proprietary. these would be good on tater tots, on fries. these would be good on toast. this would be good on everything you make, right? fifi: mm-hmm. lemonis: if you're dealing with a really diverse community like brooklyn, you want to address everybody. and you're taking a simple product like crab, and you're making it diverse enough where people can eat it more often because they're going to get a different flavor profile. one of the issues that this business has from a financial standpoint is the fluctuating food costs of seafood. so in order to balance that out a little bit, i want them to pump up some of their margin-builder items. when you look at a chart of their overall revenue, 100% of their revenue comes from actually selling food in their location. what i want to do is i want to lessen the dependency on that by adding other items that they could potentially sell both in store and out of store. maybe these sauces and these spices are part of that. i ultimately want to diversify their revenue, even if it's only by 10% or 15%. who's the boss? fifi: i have more shares in the company, but she got more mouth in the company. gwen: [ laughs ] lemonis: how much money

do the two of you have invested in this? gwen: we invested $25,000... fifi: each. gwen: ...each. lemonis: and last year did $2.2 million and made $300-some-odd-thousand? fifi: in that tiny little kitchen. yeah. lemonis: okay. let's look at 2019. fifi: [ clears throat ] lemonis: $1,184,000 of revenue. total revenue in 2020 is $2,036,000. so the business does good revenue, right? it does great revenue. i mean, that's a lot of food to pump out of that place. gwen: it is. lemonis: cash in the bank -- how much? gwen: $280. lemonis: $280,000? and then what about, um, debt? gwen: we don't have any debt. fifi: there isn't any. lemonis: so, debt-free. $280 grand in the bank. you did $2 million in business last year. do you guys ever take a step back and recognize what you've achieved? fifi: we're blessed. gwen: it's more than blessed. i know. i know. lemonis: what do you think your business is worth? [ both laugh ]

fifi: um, well, technically, like, for real, for real? lemonis: no, no, literally. fifi: literally? i mean, literally? lemonis: yeah. fifi: i-i was -- i mean, just off of what i was reading, i -- lemonis: just tell me the number. fifi: $250,000. lemonis: bull[bleep] business is worth way more than that. fifi: yeah, there's ways to add, you know, to that. but if you're technically, like, literally looking at these numbers -- lemonis: no. this business is worth no less than a million dollars. $2 million in sales, $280,000 in the bank, and it's been around for seven years and survived the pandemic. gwen: right. lemonis: what do you guys think you need from me? fifi: i mean, i'm just constantly trying to think about where we can go to increase our sales online -- like, you know, shipping. we can only do a certain amount here. but if we were to get, like, a place, you know -- lemonis: do all the ship-outs? fifi: yeah. ♪♪ i love the concept, but i don't feel like your bright, joyful personality lives in that space. we got to work on a refresh to this specific location. fifi: we need to tweak it. it's not a lot wrong with it.

lemonis: i think between the freshening of the facility, the fixing of the menu, the developing of one or two things that potentially could start in store and online and then go broad market, i think improving the website -- i think it would be great. fifi: yeah. lemonis: so i want to offer $100,000 for 10% of the business. there's a number of things i want to get done. i've given you that list. so is that something you guys want to do? ♪♪ fifi: my heart is just pumping, like, out of my chest right now. gwen: right. fifi: [ gasps ] gwen: please take a deep breath. don't cry. don't cry. don't cry. don't cry. ♪♪ lemonis: let's go! man: get it, get it, get it! lemonis: holy -- whoa! amari: [ retches ] gwen: oh, my god. fifi: she's unapologetic. i don't like it. gwen: no. that's not true. fifi: oh, my goodness. gwen: no.

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♪♪ gwen: please take a deep breath. don't cry. don't cry. fifi: [ crying ] gwen: don't cry. don't cry. ♪♪ fifi: i'm so corny. [ both laugh ] i'm such a crybaby. [ sniffles ] gwen: we'd love to be in business with you. fifi: you're so awesome. welcome to the crabby shack. lemonis: one second. hold on! gwen: [ laughs ] lemonis: h-h-hold on! fifi: let's go! lemonis: you're -- gwen: what are we doing? [ laughs ] fifi: where's my check? no, i'm kidding.

gwen: what's your phone number? lemonis: the crabby shack. $100,000. do we have a deal? gwen: we have a deal. fifi: we have a deal. lemonis: okay. are you guys excited? gwen: we are! fifi: yes, we are excited, marcus. gwen: we are excited! yes! we were really nervous just about what we were going to lose if we were going to lose anything, and i think it's a -- a really good deal. fifi: mm-hmm. gwen: we got exactly what we wanted. fifi: i'm excited. i can't believe marcus is our partner. gwen: [ laughs ] it's really something. fifi: it's like, "my partner. who, marcus? nah. "oh, let me just call him, because i don't think you're -- yeah, i don't think you're right right now. let me call my partner." it's the "unh, unh." gwen: [ laughs ] lemonis: i'm excited to be in business! gwen: thank you. fifi: thank you. lemonis: and i'm going to be a little crabby the next time i see you. gwen: oh, god. fifi: [ laughs ] lemonis: bye, guys. fifi: bye. gwen: bye. ♪♪

lemonis: ladies first. fifi: thank you. lemonis: have you been out lobstering before? gwen: no. fifi: never. lemonis: if you're going to be in the crab and lobster business, you got to understand how it all works. we also want to find some direct sources to see if we can actually wholesale them and lower our costs. fifi: that would be lovely. lemonis: i'm taking the crabby shack team to gloucester, massachusetts, to look for additional sources of product and to improve their pricing, and hopefully it'll also improve their process. how are you? are you the captain? ryan: yes. hi. lemonis: i'm marcus. ryan: nice to meet you. lemonis: nice to meet you. they've never been out lobstering, and so we thought we'd come to the best. let's go! ♪♪ amari: [ retches ] ♪♪ ryan: alright. get ready. amari: where? where? ryan: anywhere. lemonis: bring it up! holy... fifi: wow! okay. lemonis: and what would that wholesale for?

ryan: anywhere from 9 to 10 bucks per pound. lemonis: what are you paying per pound? fifi: $38.95. lemonis: starts to become a problem. fifi: mm-hmm. lemonis: is there a different middle person? if you had to come here once a year to cut a deal, it's like, "who cares? we'll come." the idea isn't just improving the margins. it's improving the quality. it's improving the supply chain so that you're never out of it. and, for me, it's also to really understand how to improve our pricing. gwen, get in here. aaah! gwen: aah-wah! ryan: now look at the tail. tail good? lemonis: tail looks... gwen: uh... ryan: oh, no! gwen: oh, my -- oh, my god! oh, my god! ryan: that was $8 you just lost overboard. gwen: [ gasps ] alright, your turn, amari. amari: alright. i got it. i got it. i got it. like, i'm totally not scared, but i'm scared. ryan: always try and go... amari: [ gasps ] ryan: ...from behind. never -- amari: hoo! lemonis: i want to spend a few minutes with amari. when we were back at the shop, people were critical of him, and part of the reason why i brought him here is to help develop him to give him a chance to actually prove his worth. what do you want to do at the crabby shack?

amari: i want to potentially manage, honestly. lemonis: what i expect of you is for you to take the initiative on your own. so if you want to be the manager, you don't have to talk to people like you're the manager, but you could behave as if you're the person that everything's on your shoulders. fifi: i don't want to hear anybody complain about one of my star players and they think that you're still here because we just spoil you and enable you. that's not cool for us. lemonis: are you helping him or hurting? gwen: i know that's not helping him. lemonis: as business owners, we complain about our people, but then we enable them, and so no more of that. they'll let you get away with murder forever. i won't. i'll throw you out. i want and they want the best for you. ♪♪ i'm marcus, by the way. tessa: i'm tessa. nice to meet you. lemonis: nice to meet you. as we go through that process of looking for more sourcing, i'm also looking for margin opportunities. we're looking at actually driving the business forward. you've got to go out and look for things,

and the only way to do that is to ask questions and try things. what is that? tessa: jonah crab claws. lemonis: but it's more like stone crab. tessa: it's more like stone crab, yeah. lemonis: how does this sell per pound, approximately -- i'm not holding you to it, but -- wholesale? tessa: i think it's around 8 bucks a pound. lemonis: and what is ours per pound? gwen: $18.95. expensive! fifi: $18. expensive. ♪♪ lemonis: just walk! fifi: i know. okay, okay. lemonis: she thinks she's on the runway! [ laughter ] fifi: [ laughing ] oh, my god, marcus! no, i wasn't! gwen: she -- she walks into the restaurant sometimes like that. lemonis: you were like -- she was like... [ snapping fingers ] gwen: [ laughs ] lemonis: today i want to take them to an agency that i use to really take brands that are already doing well but elevate them to the next level. in my mind, i think the brand could use a refresh. fifi: mm-hmm. lemonis: it's time for you to think about what's crabby shack 2.0 look like. fifi: right. lemonis: alright? john: great. so, this is your current brand. lemonis: so, you can't go outside of brooklyn? fifi: i think that just brooklyn is cool. lemonis: i agree that brooklyn is cool.

it does limit your ability to be in a place other than brooklyn. john: where do you want to be? and that helps to understand where the where the branding is going to go and help put a little of your personality into that. and so this is just your brand put on bags and carry-outs, t-shirts. right now, nobody is finding you via website, and your menu is not in a readable format for mobiles. lemonis: you guys were not aware of any of this? fifi: no. if any of this was -- would change, we would be probably 10 times more successful. lemonis: when i look at crabby shack's overall business, i'm looking for ways to find extra revenue. figuring out how to target customers in their local area is key. when you go onto google today, you're not actually able to find the crabby shack very easily. if you would type in, like, "best crab in brooklyn," they wouldn't even populate, and a lot of that is the way their website is set up. so i want to redo their entire website and develop some analytics that allow us to penetrate the local market by targeting customers within a 1-to-5-mile radius,

ultimately driving the business either walk-in, call-in, or ordering. what's the most important thing that you want the other person to work on? fifi: i don't think she's in agreement with me with this one, but when i present stuff, hear -- hear it in its entirety before you make your decision. gwen: okay. fifi: i have an example. music choice in our store -- i want to play hip-hop. she feels very strong about not playing hip-hop in our store. gwen: no. that's not true, actually. fifi: oh, my goodness. gwen: no. i just don't -- i don't want the ratchet playing in our store. that's all. lemonis: did she shut you down quicker than you wanted? fifi: well, she shut it -- that's pretty much what you see. just shut -- i didn't finish, and she was like, "no." it's like the big sister/ little sister relationship, and i just feel like i don't understand that. lemonis: i want you guys to think more about this, because, ultimately, that's the thing that i think holds the business back more than anything. what i worry about is how the two of you see each other and how you see yourself.

gwen: i feel like it's blown out of proportion. i feel like you're super passionate about certain things, and there are certain things that i'm just passionate about. and i don't have, like, a strong opinion about a lot of things. there's just certain things. i don't think i fight you on a lot. fifi: i'm always worried that she's mad, and i don't want to feel like that all the time. lemonis: why are you worried that she's mad? are you worried that she's going to -- you're going to fall out of favor with her, you guys -- your relationship's going to get broken? what are you worried about? fifi: [ voice breaking ] she's not expressive. she holds every freaking thing in. she's unapologetic. i don't like it. i'm always like, "what's wrong?" ♪♪ it annoys me 'cause gwen says no so fast, like, she doesn't let me say everything. she'll just be like, "no, no, no." so i just -- gwen: that's not true. fifi: why is this happening? i'm not doing this.

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lemonis: what are you worried about? fifi: she's not expressive. she holds every freaking thing in. she's unapologetic. i don't like it. i'm always like, "what's wrong?"

lemonis: it's important for me that business partners can talk things out, and it's clear that they have a wonderful personal relationship and they have a good business relationship. but when you start to peel the onion back, you learn that every single business partnership has some level of tension. and what we want to work through is how are we going to solve it and how are they going to be better communicators. getting out all this unnecessary tension will help the business go much further. fifi: that's pretty much what you see. i didn't finish, and she was like, "no." lemonis: do you feel like you're being scolded? gwen: okay. okay. fifi: i mean, it's like the big sister/ little sister relationship. i don't like to upset people, period, and let alone my business partner, who i love and respect and trust. gwen: you know, we're getting to the bottom of how i view fifi and how fifi views me and how we deal with each other. and so i guess it can be uncomfortable to talk about those things. we're very close, and when there's tension, it can really "f" up a day. fifi: it can derail. and i don't like derailing.

gwen: i think a lot before i speak. fifi: i don't. gwen: i know. and then she "blah." she's very emotional. lemonis: but that's why you guys are so good together, because you are different. fifi: we have the same end goal. lemonis: but the end goal, fifi, has to have a road to get to there, and that road can't be bumpy. so, would you say that, from a business standpoint, you're on the same page? gwen: yeah. fifi: yeah. lemonis: both want to grow the business, you're not going to compromise on food. the places where you're not as much in agreement that we have to work on is how do you see each other. i think that's the bridge that we have to close. so i would challenge you, john, to come back with three different looks, but, ultimately, the decision has to be made... gwen: together. lemonis: ...together. compromise and get to a place of "yes." if we can just tweak that [imitates explosion] we'll be off to the races. ♪♪

gwen! fifi! fifi: hi, marcus! lemonis: how are you? fifi: how are you? lemonis: welcome to miami. i brought gwen and fifi to joe's stone crab. now, it's one of the top five grossing restaurants in america, and what they really specialize in is crab, which is their business. but i also want them to focus on how joe's works on margin builders in their own menu. i'm going to introduce you to my friend brian. fifi: hi, brian. how are you? brian: hi, guys. gwen: hello, brian. brian: welcome to joe's. we have what is known as joe's classics, okay? we have a hungarian-style coleslaw that we do that's been served here since they opened, a little bit of hash browns, or if you like hash browns with onions, you do the lyonnaise. think about the key lime pie to start with... gwen: ah. brian: ...because life's too short. you should have dessert first. lemonis: i want to point out what he did. he just sold you all his margin builders to go along with the crab. fifi: yeah. lemonis: one of the challenges that this business has is the number-one product that it sells, seafood, fluctuates in price a lot, and in order to manage your margins over the long term, they're going to have to build up high-margin items like desserts or cornbread

or coleslaw or potatoes. those are all things that have a decent sticker price on them, but they don't have a high cost of goods. what that ultimately will do is it'll drive incremental revenue, but it will come with a much higher margin. brian: these are grilled tomatoes -- half tomato, ground spinach topping, melted cheese. lemonis: do you like this idea of a grilled tomato? gwen: well, i mean, i love grilled tomatoes -- not maybe for the crabby shack. brian: basically, it's a very simple, straightforward -- but you know what? it's an amazing dish. lemonis: you saw how naturally he sold those things? gwen: absolutely. lemonis: it was almost like he made it part of a story. gwen: yes. yes. lemonis: that's what we're not doing enough of at checkout. gwen: right. fifi: although, like, honestly, if i was in the front of house, i'd be selling all kinds of stuff. lemonis: were you ever in the front of house? fifi: i was a lot. lemonis: what happened? fifi: during covid, it was me all day, every day. gwen: and me. don't forget that. fifi: gwendolyn, when you were sick... gwen: i know. fifi: ...i was by myself. gwen: i had covid, and she was pissed that i had covid, and she left... fifi: i wasn't mad that you got covid. gwen: ...and said, "figure it out." fifi: i was mad that --

why is this happening? i'm not doing this. i mean, she didn't know how to work the cash register. so i just -- gwen: that's not true. lemonis: i'm going to say this to both of you. we can have a lot of fun jabbing, but the two of you love each other. gwen: we do. i think we actually are a good match because you are super expressive, and then i'm kind of ice queen. fifi: i know what my faults are. the one thing that i don't like about what gwen does is she says no so fast, i almost feel like she doesn't let me hear -- let me say everything, and she'll be like, "no, no, no." it annoys me because i'm sitting here in the background, like [imitates keyboard clicking] on my computer and doing something, and it's just -- i don't know. that's it. gwen: i don't know anything that you spent all this [imitates keyboard clicking] and i just said no to. i say no not to be dismissive. it's me processing. fifi: it feels opposite of you processing. that's all. lemonis: okay. we'll work on it. that's it. gwen: okay. lemonis: so i'll see you guys... gwen: okay. lemonis: ...in the morning, bright and early. gwen: yeah, yeah, yeah.

[ laughter ] ♪♪ lemonis: you're like a different person. fifi: when you say that to people, it hurts people's feelings.

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♪♪ lemonis: i wanted to bring gwen and fifi to a business that i invested in not too long ago in miami that really understands how fast casual works. daniel: we have 103 skus across our board. that's it. rosa: and you'd be surprised. the more choices you give people, the less they're able to make a decision. lemonis: the simpler the menu, the easier it is to scale. it's not just about the food, it's about the attention to detail that they have with every little thing inside the restaurant. daniel: it was really important to keep the spirit of sanguich alive, even when you're home, and now we're bottling it, and you can add it to your steak, you can make it with your fish. gwen: i love it. it's just -- i love it. lemonis: this is kind of what you guys want. gwen: it's beautiful. yes. seeing that, i realize we have a lot of work to do. lemonis: you can do fun things like this. fifi: absolutely. i want to change things.

when we go back to brooklyn, it's "go" time. lemonis: here's what's weird to me. you guys have all these sauces, and nowhere in the place do i see anything about all your sauces. because, honestly, anybody can get crab. what makes it different is that you guys do this. that's the crabby shack difference. gwen: you're absolutely right. lemonis: i should be able to buy it here and go. gwen: and that is true. that's what makes our stuff different. lemonis: we got a lot to do. fifi: yeah, i know. ♪♪ lemonis: hi, buddy. amari: hey. what's up, y'all? lemonis: how are you? amari: good. and you? lemonis: good. i know you're capable. you know you're capable. let's get in there and get started, okay? after spending some time with amari on the lobster boat, i want to dedicate some time to helping him grow as an individual and professionally. and i think it's important for gwen and fifi to see that he has the aptitude and he's going to put the effort in.

the key to managing it is making sure that the people that are working -- that they know exactly what you expect of them the minute they get there. amari: the more responsibility that they give me, the more that i will show them that i'm capable of handling their restaurant. ♪♪ fifi: i have a friend that's on the corner. the ones that i keep talking about... lemonis: yeah. fifi: ...opened up. they're going to be opened up with a big lounge with food by a french chef type of situation. lemonis: in order for us to grow our online business, we have to be able to have a commercial kitchen that can handle the orders. their current 200-square-foot kitchen will not. so i'm taking them to look at a few spaces over the next couple days. gwen: i love bed-stuy. i want my brownstone in bed-stuy. fifi: like, that's one of my favorite restaurants. and then i have a friend who has three bars. i'm just like, "what are we doing?" like, i mean, i don't like this. i don't like this feeling. lemonis: you're feeling like you're behind? fifi: well, only because of, you know, multiple locations, yes. gwen: yes. fifi: and wanting to be in bed-stuy, yes. it's just this is where we want to be -- like, right here. gwen: [ laughs ] fifi: right here.

lemonis: she's comparing herself to her peers. i think that's her lack of confidence in herself. she comes off like a bright and bubbly, confident person. but i think she does struggle to stand up for herself and -- and justify her value. want to go take a walk? ♪♪ it's so beautiful here. fifi: yeah. lemonis: so let me tell you a little bit about what i wanted to do here. ♪♪ each step of the way, you constantly think about the inadequacy and feeling deserving of things. fifi: i'm scared of failure. i feel like i lack a bit of confidence in myself. i wish i knew it all already. put it that way, you know? i have a little bit of an insecurity issue, i think. lemonis: i'm telling you right now, i don't ever want to hear about feeling inadequate again. the fact that you guys have accomplished what you've accomplished, the way you've accomplished it, you have achieved a level of success

that most people will never get to, and you're just getting started. fifi: i'm this outgoing, "let's go!" i'm speaking to everybody with confidence. and then you ask me something that i might not feel sure about, and then i clam up because i don't want to be wrong. lemonis: my job is to just build the bridge. your job is to walk across it. fifi: i look at me being slightly emotional as a weakness, and i don't like that. lemonis: i want you to be exactly who you are, with all the emotion. when you invest in a business, there's money that you can invest, there's time you can invest, there's emotion you can invest. in the case of fifi, she's done all three, which is why her business is as good as it is. so let's agree on three things. we're not going to judge ourself based on what anybody else is doing, just our own personal goals and the achievement of that. we're going to get more focused on our business

and growing the people that are there, like amari. and we're going to think about expanding in a way that's good for us, not us compared to anybody else. fifi: honestly, i'm here because of -- i work hard. lemonis: you're here to stay. fifi: i'm here to stay. i wor-- i deserve it. i know i do. lemonis: what's that? fifi: i deserve to be here. lemonis: i couldn't hear you. fifi: i deserve to be here 'cause i work -- lemonis: tell everybody what you deserve. fifi: i deserve to be here! i am successful because i work damn hard! lemonis: can you hear her? woman: no! lemonis: say it louder! fifi: i deserve to be here 'cause i work damn hard and i-i deserve it. woman: you go! you go, girl! fifi: marcus likes to unpeel my skin back. i tell him he needs to be a therapist. lemonis: see that? was that hard? no, it wasn't. did it feel good? fifi: yeah. ♪♪ lemonis: i want to roll out some potential new branding ideas. i didn't want to make it different because i didn't want you guys freaking out. gwen: um...

♪♪ fifi: this is a monday. we open at 12:00. lemonis: would you do more business if you were open at 11:45? you'd get a running start at 11:45 to start taking orders from customers. what i want gwen and fifi to really understand is how to take a really good business and make it better. i wanted to see, by day, by hour, where are there opportunities to save some money? now, what did you cut off at the end of the day? an hour and a half. fifi: an hour and a half. lemonis: if you look at the hours of operation, they do about 1% of their total business

after 9:00 on a monday, and so they're open till 10:30, and so if you take a look at that 1 1/2 hours of operations and the fact that there's three people working there at an average of $15 an hour, you're going to save about $67. when you multiply that, it ends up being just north of $3,200. their rent for one month is $3,200. that schedule applies to any location you have. fifi: right. gwen: right. ♪♪ new bar. [ banging ] tile is out lemonis: for the last couple weeks, part of the reason why i wanted the store redone is to find new places for new products. marisa: we have a shrimp and mascarpone, a lobster and mascarpone, and a mac and cheese with crab. lemonis: and so i brought a really handcrafted pastamaker to see if there is a way for them to collaborate. like, what other products could we add to our lineup that don't take up space and drive incremental revenue and incremental gross profit?

gwen: spicy shrimp, crab and old bay, and lemon and lobster. ♪♪ lemonis: hey! ana: hey there! lemonis: ana and i are partners in a marinade and sauce business called skinny latina, and she's really become the subject-matter expert when it comes to sauces and spices. ana: hot sauces are great. cheap to produce. it lasts forever. lemonis: we think we have a good game plan. ana's gonna take the lead. gwen: yeah. lemonis: we're off to the races. you think we can get it done in three weeks? ana: yeah. lemonis: i want to roll out to them some potential new branding ideas. i didn't want to make it different because i didn't want you guys freaking out. ♪♪ fifi: i-i don't see what is the -- what makes these that much more special than our original crab. you just can't find this crab anywhere online, so i just like that our logo is proprietary to us. lemonis: i agree. fifi: this crab, i mean. lemonis: i agree. okay. do you like the font? fifi: i'm okay with changing the font. lemonis: and then do you like the idea of having a repeat print? gwen: bugs. fifi: bugs. gwen: if it's ours,

then it won't look as -- fifi: it won't look like bugs 'cause ours don't do that. it's not like, "mee, mee, mee, mee, mee!" ours is like... lemonis: do that again. just... gwen: [ laughs ] lemonis: i don't ever want you guys to feel like you have to change something. like, that's not the idea. we're going to do stuff like the cups and the bags and the print and the box so that we look the way we're supposed to be. so let's make some decisions. ♪♪ hey! fifi: hi! gwen: hi! amari: hello! hi! [ laughter ] oh, my god! people come to eat, you know, the crab legs and the macaroni and the crab roll, all that stuff, but they come to see 'mari, too, you know! lemonis: i will tell you that it looks totally different in here.

♪♪ so let's walk through the actual changes. so, floor's redone. fifi: new floors. brand-new bar. ♪♪ new menu. it's big, but it's clear. i actually love it. fifi: i like how our famous crab roll is highlighted. it looks great. lemonis: and you know what happens with the menu, also? it brings me here... gwen: right. lemonis: ...not there. gwen: here. right. just feels better in here. lemonis: this window -- have you used it yet? gwen: no, not -- amari: yes! fifi: i was gonna say! amari: we have! and it's really good for people that have dogs that we can't, like, allow in. we take their order, and then we pass it through there. and we even have the little handheld pos. lemonis: is amari here? ♪♪

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lemonis: you're like a different person. fifi: when you say that to people, it hurts people's feelings. gwen: he's happy. he's giving him a compliment. fifi: oh. i thought you were saying it in a bad way, because i was like -- i get nervous when you say stuff like that to me. gwen: [ laughs ] fifi: i'm serious. amari: fifi. fifi: i'm sorry. lemonis: amari. amari: yes? lemonis: you're a different person in a good way. amari: i am. i'm getting more responsibility, so now, you know, i have to be the face for the company and i have to be, like, the manager, like...

give me the other rolls right there. the crabby shack is like, you know, the cake with the decorations and stuff, and i'm like the centerpiece on top, like... ♪♪ trevor's done. lemonis: and i'm noticing that amari is more serious about his job. when i first met amari, he was sitting behind the counter, playing on his phone. i believe in him because once he learns how to believe in himself, that guy is going to be amazing. you know that we trademarked crabioli. fifi: and it's so delicious. lemonis: talk to me about the dip. fifi: so, this is our delicious parmesan crab dip. it tastes really yummy warm. lemonis: i would think about this as a promotional tool -- crab and wine tuesdays. gwen: that's exactly what we're going to do. it's a great idea. fifi: great idea. lemonis: one of the other initiatives that they wanted to launch is around packaged goods, and so they now have a whole line of things that they didn't have before, which are going to give them incremental revenue and incremental margin to make the business more profitable. what's the retail on this? gwen: so, the shrimp is $10.

lemonis: that's wholesale? gwen: yes. lemonis: this is what ana helped you do? fifi: yeah. that's going to sell crazy. lemonis: and then what about these? gwen: so, this is -- lemonis: the original hottie? which one is the hottie? gwen: yep, the original. lemonis: you are? fifi: yeah. [ laughter ] gwen: actually, if you really knew the real secret, i'm the hottie. fifi: [ laughs ] 'scuse me. gwen: she just comes across. i'm the hottie. lemonis: the place feels totally different. fifi: it does. it's more vibrant. amari: it's more vibrant. it's more colorful. gwen: you were right about the color, man. it makes you more happy. lemonis: what do you think ed would say? gwen: oh, he would -- he -- his exact words would be, "this is hot!" fifi: "this is hot!" that's exactly what he would say! gwen: yeah. i-i wish that he could see the progress. i feel like i'm more seasoned, more experienced. i-i just -- i know a lot more. we've accomplished a lot, and i'm -- i'm so grateful, and, you know, the opportunities that are given to us. lemonis: you've earned the right to do all these things. nobody gave you anything. gwen: i definitely feel like we have become closer

during this whole experience. lemonis: the two of you are more on the same page, and you're communicating well. and when you guys have ideas, they don't get... as dismissed as they did before. gwen: [ laughs ] fifi: i've learned i work really well under pressure. i really do. and i also learned to not take as many things as personal. what about you, gwen? gwen: [ laughs ] fifi: i think that gwen and i were struggling with figuring out what our next step was and -- and not being afraid to take the plunge, and i don't think that we knew how to get the other one to say yes. so i think now i think it'll be easier for us to communicate with one another to actually say, like, "i think we should do this," and she might believe me more and i'll believe her more. i have a question. lemonis: yeah? fifi: have you learned anything from us? lemonis: i did -- that the respect among partners like the two of you have is really the reason your business works. it's your relationship. gwen: [ laughs ] fifi: oh, my god. you want water works here?

for real? gwen: fifi, you have been there for me through thick and thin, as a partner and as a friend, and i love you and i appreciate you and i wouldn't change a thing about you. [ both chuckle ] lemonis: alright. fifi: this is bittersweet! no! lemonis: whoa! i'm not going anywhere! gwen: [ laughing ] i know. this actually feels sad. lemonis: what are you sad about? gwen: because he was the battery in our back and so much has happened since you've come into our life. fifi: she's even emotional. that's what she looks like. it just doesn't come and fall down her eyes, but she's totally emotional right now. i remember when i wrote to the show and when you guys decided to work with us, i was just like -- it was just literally a dream come true, and it's the opportunity of a lifetime. we're going to definitely stay on track, and i know that we're going to grow right with, you know, having an amazing strategic partner like marcus lemonis on our side.

lemonis: want a group hug? gwen: yes! come on, amari. lemonis: i'm proud of you guys. want to go out on the boat again and get seasick? gwen: [ laughs ] amari: are they gonna air that? lemonis: huh? amari: are they gonna air that? lemonis: you throwing up? amari: yeah. lemonis: oh, 100%. gwen: they have to. amari: they have to. gwen: that is, guaranteed, on the show. ♪♪ welcome to friday and "options action. i'm melissa lee. coming up tonight, it's been the best-performing financial stock during the the last 15 years and you probably have never heard of it oh, and it's in trouble. and big blues. don't let the recent rallies in ibm fool you the stock could soon be singing a different tune. and it's important even though we covered it in "fast money," we're going to cover it again. how to trade the rates let's get right to it. carter werth, what is the mystery financial name on a 15-year streak, and why could thatud