. >> marcus: yeah.weird to, i mean -- >> marcus: it is. >> anthony: to -- to need a translator. >> marcus: no, but do you -- i need a translator, my wife is now my translator in life and in culture, and so many things. but i think when -- when you're a black man, when you're an immigrant, when you're ethiopian, when you're swedish, i've been put in so many situations that i put myself into. so, i'm actually very comfortable in the -- being uncomfortable. >> anthony: in the 1970s, ethiopia was hit with a tuberculosis epidemic. marcus, his older sister fantaye, and his mom were all stricken with the disease. with no possibility of medical attention in their village, facing the almost inevitable death of both her children, marcus's mom set out on foot with her daughter at her side and 2-year-old marcus on her back. walking 75 miles to the swedish hospital in addis. against all odds, they made it. marcus and fantaye recovered. their mother did not. ♪ marcus and his sister were adopted by anne marie and lenn

tonnie: traditionally, you walk in -- marcus, you have my -- another guy named marcus -- marcus, you have my steribag? marcus: no, it should be in the front. tonnie: never mind. i got it. so, the beauty of tonnie's minis is you walk in, you pick your cupcake out, you pick your topping. woman: i like it. it means make your own cupcake, essentially. lemonis: you a cupcake eater? woman: yes, actually. thank you so much. -have a wonderful day. -tonnie: take care. lemonis: cupcake's good. tonnie: always happy to hear that. lemonis: the frosting's good. the process seemed a little...nonexistent. i would have thought there would have been a bit of an assembly line, like base, frosting, topping. i don't necessarily see that. tonnie's idea of a build-your-own cupcake, quite frankly, is phenomenal. but the idea i thought i was coming for i just don't see. somebody takes a cake off a rack and then the toppings are, like, hidden under the counter. i mean, it's terrible. how much business are you doing in this location? tonnie: average is $500 a day. lemonis: and what are your margins on that $50

lemonis: i'm marcus. nice to meet you. adelo: mr. lemonis, i mean. lemonis: no, marcus. adelo: oh, marcus, okay. lemonis: nice meeting you, adelo. adelo: nice meeting you. lemonis: this is a big place. adelo: it is. lemonis: what's all the wood for? adelo: we actually cook carne asada ribs and chicken. this is the wood oven. lemonis: oh, so you literally do it like a straight-up campfire. adelo: yeah. and this is it. this is our kitchen. i have this passion to cook. and i've been in the cooking business since i was 14 years old. i love it. you know, we're -- we're not the tex-mex kind of place. lemonis: yeah. adelo: we're more authentic. and we want to keep it that way. lemonis: yeah. adelo: the articles always talk about how authentic it is. this. this is when we first opened. lemonis: where did you get the money to open this? adelo: i worked 3 years. lemonis: saved up money. adelo: and saved all that money. i used to sleep for 4 hours. i had my route at 18, my produce route. lemonis: so you were delivery. adelo: yes. then i also had a full-time job as a deli clerk from

marcus, come here, please. marcus, come here, please. >> listen, nobody's changing my mind, okay?> you stay here, you will be running it. we've set everything up to succeed. >> i'm sure you will, pete. there's no question about it. >> listen to me. then if you decide in a year or two you don't want to be here-- >> doesn't matter. >> tony-- >> it doesn't matter. i want nothing more than this world for you to be successful. >> listen, listen-- >> no. >> so what's going on again? >> he wants to leave. he feels that--not to be here. >> why not, tony? >> i feel that, um, right now he has the right partner to help him get to the next level. >> well, he has the right financial partner, but i'm not here every day. >> i understand that. and, uh... >> have i ever asked you for anything? now i'm asking you. play this through. >> my decision is made. >> coming up... >> why'd you take my name off? >> i need to make sure that everybody that came here before knows this is a new day. because when they came here before, there was no cars. >> i'm done arguing with you! this is bull[bleep]. move. hi

-sandy, this is marcus. -sandy: hi. lemonis: hi, sandy. i'm marcus. a pleasure to meet you. shauna: sandy's in charge of all of our candy and merchandise. lemonis: and so your full-time job is the candy store? sandy: no. h.r., payroll duties. this is last on my list. -lemonis: yeah. -sandy: yeah. lemonis: i've never seen a candy store or any retail business that has its h.r. director running the merchandise. i guess i shouldn't be that surprised. if they don't see the importance of having their ice cream be special, why would the candy be any different? it's a nice attempt at a theme, but i'm not really sure that the theme's clear to me. when you walk in the front door, it looks like they went to the local convenience store and just said, "give me some lollipops and some sweet tarts." it's not nostalgic. there's nothing really curated. and what's this -- all this bacon? why do you have bacon cotton candy? sandy: people like bacon right now. same thing with the bacon soda. lemonis: i mean, i know the craze with bacon, but how does it connect to farrell

salena: yeah. ♪ lemonis: i'm marcus. cody: hey, marcus. how you doing, man?: nice to meet you. what is your name? cody: cody. lemonis: nice to meet you. you run this basement? cody: yeah. what i do is -- we do the shipping down here. lemonis: are these online shipping orders you're sending out? cody: yeah. lemonis: how long have you worked here? cody: six going on seven? lemonis: do you love it? cody: i did. everybody has to do so much that there is no fun time. but i miss that part and the three p's, i guess -- the fun part. i've looked into your personal businesses and seen what you've done. and for everything i've researched about you... lemonis: yeah. cody: ...i don't know if you're about the businesses anymore. like, are you just gonna turn this into a glorified chain skateboard store in the malls and stuff? lemonis: are you concerned that, if someone like me, that some monster, got involved, that it would lose its authenticity? cody: you could just come in and say, "oh, we're just about the dollar now." lemonis: is that what you think about me? cody: i

trevor: hey, marcus!e of the things that i thought we could talk about is what the plan and the process are gonna be. we're gonna rebuild a brand using social media, using packaging, using product development. my biggest concern is, i don't know what your story is today. we probably need to go back and make a brand-new generation-one watch. and it needs to be something different and proprietary that nobody else can get to. we're no longer gonna downplay the fact that this company has a mission. in fact, we're gonna amp it up. we're gonna get back to the 10 colors and the 10 charities, and then we're gonna add some things that make it even more unique. all right. let's go to work, guys. trevor: beautiful. ♪ karlo: hello, guys. welcome to shiekh. lemonis: how are you?! karlo: how you doing? lemonis: i'm marcus. karlo: my name is karlo. nice to meet you, marcus. lemonis: are you the manager here? karlo: yes, sir. i'm the store manager. lemonis: one of the things that the guys need to think about as we relaun

my name is marcus lemonis. in the past ten years, i've bought hundreds of failing businesses, turned them around, and i've made millions doing it. i'll write whatever check i need to, even if you won't. if you want people to listen, you put money on the table. i'm gonna give you a check for $500,000. i found six struggling businesses, some weeks away from closure. my plan is to turn them around. for the next week, i'm 100% in charge. >> all right. >> let's go get to work. can't run a business if it's not clean. but i'm not just giving them advice. i'm putting up millions of dollars of my own money. if you don't know your numbers, you just don't know your business. i'll work by their side... i'll put in the hours... 'cause i have the same risk that they do. where's accounting? >> she's counting. >> no, where's accounting? >> um... >> oh, my god. this business is a total mess. i judge businesses based on three things: it's pretty damn good. most often, businesses fail because of people. >> i trusted people to man

-lemonis: marcus.rcus. ♪ lemonis: just so that you guys understand what's happening -- yesterday the guys and i made a deal for me to invest $600,000 into the business to grow both short-term and long-term and really take it to the next level. when they took my check, i became 100% in charge, and you guys have to trust that process. as you guys know, i focus on three things -- people, product, and process. i am very comfortable that we have great people. from the product standpoint, i think the shoes are beautiful. it's not clear to me that there's actually a definitive process from ideas to being on the shelf, and i want to sort of road-map that. i'm really questioning, are we retailers, or are we wholesalers? dan: at the moment, we're -- you know, most of the revenue is being derived from the wholesale market. lemonis: okay. would you call yourself a successful retailer at this point? dan: i would call ourselves a very successful online retailer and a very unsuccessful brick-and-mortar retailer. lemo

i'm marcus.lown away by the interest that we already have with the concept, but closing a deal here today will give us real momentum. we've gotten a lot of applications -- almost 800 -- since we kind of launched the concept. and so one of the prerequisites we have is that there's significant restaurant experience. do you have it? -john: sure. my wife's family has been in the restaurant catering business for almost 50 years. i have a background in design and construction. lemonis: well, clearly your background is qualified. why don't we take a look at the menu board? john: you've got five burgers. are there other things than just burgers? i know it's standard burger, but... lemonis: is there something specific that you'd like to see on the menu that you feel is missing? john: i think if you add a kids' menu, i think that would be helpful, because i've got three children. if we're gonna bring the kids for lunch or dinner, you kind of want to see it on the menu. lemonis: i wouldn't be surprised if o

marcus, this is my sister, kelly. -kelly: hi, marcus. -lemonis: hi, kelly?elly: pleasure to meet you. yes, kelly. -lemonis: nice to meet you. -dan: hi, i'm dan. -lemonis: dan, nice to meet you. -dan: nice to meet you, marcus. lemonis: so you guys all wear the stuff? -dan: yeah. -kelly: yeah. lemonis: now, is that a "ladies" body? kelly: yes, this is a "ladies" body. -lemonis: okay. -kelly: yeah. lemonis: i was surprised how small the "ladies" section was in comparison to the universe of fashion. kelly: i would love to do more feminine styles for girls and tweens. i think there's a huge opportunity there. lemonis: how much business do you do overall? total company. patrick: well, in 2014 we did $1 million. last year, we did $900,000. and now this year, 'cause of all the situations we're having, we're on track to do about $600,000. patrick: you know, one of our biggest retailers that we work with, kitson, is closed. lemonis: how much business did you do with them on an annual basis? patrick: on an annual basis, about $300,000. -lemonis: and they're gone? -patr

my name is marcus lemonis. on my show, "the profit," i use my own money to invest in struggling american companies... i'm 100% in charge. ...and help turn their fortunes around. now i've come to one of the last holdouts of communism to meet some pioneers of capitalism. >> the doors for the first time are wide open. >> i'm definitely a businessman. i love doing this. >> do you think you're gonna be in cuba for the rest of your life? >> yes. because cuba is changing very fast. >> the obstacles are daunting. this clothing designer has to buy fabric on the black market. >> ooh! >> this restaurant owner isn't allowed any more than 50 seats. the state says she isn't allowed to expand her business. you cannot have two stands? >> no. >> this sucks. meet cuba's new business class, surviving and thriving under one of the most oppressive regimes in the world. [ music continues ] [ flamenco guitar plays ] i had barely set foot on cuban soil when i saw how the new business laws are changing lives. armando lee rolled up in a

tad: thank you, marcus.d the team that they need to to upgrade their game when it comes to presentation -- the tables, the signage. and tomorrow's going to be our first test. what is tomorrow's event? tad: barbecue at a chevy dealership. lemonis: so i brought everyone to an auto-parts store simply to get inspiration and some props. tad: i'm just thinking of something for the front. lemonis: see, like, look. tad: yes, yes, yes, yes. i love it. for the signs, let's get a few of these. man #5: yup. tad: i'm gonna get like four of these, because we've got a few salads. man #5: real quick, so how many of these do you want? tad: maybe six. man #5: yeah. lemonis: for me, catering is nothing more than putting on a show. it's theater. and the more memorable we are, the more business we're going to attract. tad: okay. lemonis: all right. tad: let's head back to the shop. tad: okay, bye. lemonis: all right, guys. yeah, let's go. tad: i think we got some good stuff. ♪ tad: mikey, give us as much slack as we can get. wel

i want a taste of it. >> hello. >> hi. >> hi. >> i'm marcus. >> hi, marcus, nice to meet you.'m lori. >> nice to meet you. are you lori--are you mom? >> i'm mom. >> i wore green because i wanted to-- >> you're gonna fit right in. >> i wore green. >> [laughs] >> i'd love to meet everybody. >> would you like to meet--sure, come on in. >> yeah, that'd be great. >> this is marcus. >> hey, guys. >> hi. >> how are you? i'm marcus. >> this is dick, dick's our operations manager. >> i'm dick, nice to meet you. >> this is my son, michael. >> nice to meet you, mike. >> nice to meet you. >> and my husband, rich. >> hi, marcus. very nice to meet you. >> how are you? it's nice to meet you. >> heard a lot about you. >> you too. so, rich, tell me a little bit about the history of mr. green tea. >> well, you know, my dad started this business, you know, 45, 50 years ago. >> he's the real mr. green tea. >> he saw the need of high-quality ice cream for the restaurants. he had a friend who was also in the ice cream business, and my dad believed you gotta sell to food service--to restaurants, and

>> marcus. >> how you doing?> good, nice to meet you. >> good to meet you. >> pleasure. >> well, there's no shortage of everything key lime here. >> no. >> and so is all this stuff-- as an example, is this yours, or-- >> no, that's not our product. there's a lot of companies that do carry that. >> how about this one, floribbean? is this yours? >> no, that's not mine. >> it seems like a bit of a key lime grocery store. >> it is. one thing people come to the florida keys for are key lime products. >> what kind of margin do you make on all this stuff? >> these cost me about--i think they're $2.30 and i sell 'em for $3.25. these are $4.50 and i sell 'em for $5.50. >> the retail margins on these products are not great. they're between 20% and 25%, but they take up the vast majority of the floor space in the store, which is supposed to be a specialty pie shop. can i try the pie? >> sure. >> this is just a--this is the basic deal? >> just basic slice of key lime pie. >> what are the ingredients? >> we have the sweetened

security state for i'm sorry that is not good enough go ahead marcus. look pay to the problems we've theresa may did not became when she became prime minister the evidence of inadequacies as a politician and as a later were very very evident when she was home secretary i can tell you now as a member of the parliamentary press gallery the only time i saw her leave the home office building which for a few was outside of brits in these the equivalent of the interior ministry was when she would come to the commons the house of commons to speak from the dispatch box she would rarely rarely leave the home office podium because she is incredibly shy and she doesn't not like meeting people and what does this demonstrate will it demonstrate she's totally unsuitable to become prime minister put it also demonstrates something else which i've been saying for some years now the callup in british politics oh yeah it's very very low and when the caliper is low that opens the doors to people who are awake and who are not to quit i'm going to say the same thoughtful res

jeff: thanks, marcus. lemonis: you got it. taylor: thank you, marcus.s: when i write this check, i really am 100% in charge. jeff: thank you, sir. taylor: thank you. lemonis: congratulations. jeff: thank you. lemonis: so i'll see you back at the shop, okay? taylor: okay. jeff: sounds good. lemonis: all right, everybody. ernie: good to see you again. lemonis: i thought we could get some of your staff together, and let's give everybody a summary of what's happening so that people aren't in the dark. for me, the first order of business is gathering the franchisees and letting them know exactly what's happening because if they're not on board, we might as well shut the door. jeff, where is -- where's taylor? jeff: that, i have no idea. lemonis: okay, okay. so, i wanted to let everybody know, jeff and i made a deal for me to invest $350,000. that money will be used to develop a one-store, singular concept that we can all say, "okay, this is what the model is supposed to look like." new product offerings, and we're gonna change the name. tea 2 go feels like,

i'm marcus. fabio: how are you doing, marcus? fabio. lemonis: hey, nice to meet you. -you guys doing a big job? -fabio: we got jobs. lemonis: that's really good. fabio: it's amazing. like, these machines are really amazing. lemonis: how long have you been doing this? fabio: 18 years. from day 1, we worked out of the garage. lemonis: are you a one-man band in here? fabio: i am. i am. if i'm not here, this doesn't run. sometimes it does get a little -- it's overwhelming. sal: hi, marcus. sal loretta. how are you? -lemonis: nice to meet you. -sal: nice to meet you. i'm one of the owners here. how are you doing? lemonis: good. i was just getting to meet fabio. sal: fabio's been with me a long time, so he's a -- my brother-in-law. i started the business when i was 17 years old in my garage, and it just exploded. and look at this. i mean... lemonis: so it's been a very profitable year so far? sal: yeah. i mean, when i mean "profitable," the businesses do well. the only problem is the debt. this place took a lot of money to build. lemonis: how much debt's on the books? sal:

lemonis: i'm marcus. howard: marcus, i'm howard.he nice guy, usually, and this is robyn, my partner. robyn: i'm robyn. lemonis: hey, robyn, how are you? nice to meet you. robyn: nice to meet you, marcus. lemonis: so how long have you guys been in business? robyn: 20 years. lemonis: how did you guys get in business together? howard: we knew each other since high school. lemonis: okay. howard: best friends. robyn: this is my ex-husband. we have two human children, and bowery kitchen is our first child. lemonis: you guys are 50-50? robyn: yes, absolutely. lemonis: who's in charge, between the two of you? robyn: howie. howard: i would say me. robyn: only because it's just like howie maybe started the business, but i'm not allowed to touch the knife wall. howard: yeah. lemonis: this place is big. howard: yeah, we can take you around and show you. lemonis: i would love to see. how many square feet is it? robyn: 4,000 square feet. lemonis: it looks kind of junky to me. customer comes in, no directional signage. howard: "holy [bleep] look a

ana: hey, marcus. how are you? steve: marcus.restaurant franchise concept called the simple greek, and we're in need of a furniture supplier for all of our franchisees. so i'm looking for ana and steve to bid on the business together. we have one concept that's really taken off, and that's the simple greek. we have about 250 franchises sold. the last thing that's left to getting these franchises open is getting the furniture package right. and so i'd like you to lead the design process, ana. ana: okay. this is totally up my alley. lemonis: okay? i know that typically, you lead the design process. steve: yeah. of course, 'cause i've got more experience and i've been working in this industry for many years. i should be design, you be lead sales, hospitality. ana: i mean, i'm going to disagree. i am a designer, i'm a furniture designer, but, i mean, i think it should be a team effort, definitely. i mean, i would like to run things by you. steve: well, it -- it -- okay. lemonis: are you pissed off right now? you look a little fired u

thanks, marcus. are about a mile away -from precise right now. -lemonis: are you excited? brad: i'm definitely excited. it's a little bit chilly here. lemonis: how long have you been driving? brad: about 17 or 18 hours. lemonis: all right. we'll get you some water, and then we'll get to work. brad: sounds good. lemonis: when i met keith and dean back in 2015, the company was a far cry from where it is today. like overtone, their process was a mess, their facility was inadequate, and their sales were slipping. but now they've gone from $2 million back then to $15 million a year today. this new facility is a $9-million, well-oiled machine. and more importantly, there's plenty of room for overtone. i wanted them to have resources. i wanted them to have a design department, a manufacturing department. i really see, dean, you working a little bit more with them than anybody, because you bring so much creativity to the table. dean: right. lemonis: so let's get a group together and get outside. woman: here

marcus. michael: hey, marcus.gotten an e-mail that is quite concerning. so i wanted to give michael a call and find out what the heck's going on. the e-mail that i'm reading says that you specifically are making changes to the package that is slowing the process down. michael: we have to have the back of the container correct. lemonis: michael, i cannot believe that this product is not ready yet. i cannot believe it. it's got to be ready by sunday. i asked michael to make sure that the bottles were done and ready and produced for bronner. but now i'm hearing that he's making changes to them, slowing down the process and putting the process at risk. and this is a good example of him not being focused on one task. this is a big deal. it's a big deal for you. it's a big deal for me. you're confident that this stuff will be done for the event? michael: oh, yeah. i'm very confident it will be done for the event. lemonis: okay, buddy. i'm looking forward to seeing it. i'm excited. michael: yes. lemonis: see you there. m

i'm marcus. carolyn: hi. i'm carolyn. nice to meet you. lemonis: and i decided to stick around and see if i could help her. carolyn: this is tuesday. it's usually a lot busier. lemonis: unique offers everything from haircuts to massages. she even had her own personal hair care line. but i have to tell you, i saw problems the minute i walked through that door. the place looked very rundown... that's disgusting. ...with very few customers. at first glance, it's not the most inviting space. and she had major inventory problems. you see those hair dyes? at about $20 per bottle, those represented the biggest liability in carolyn's business, and no one was tracking it. you don't know what you have in here, do you? carolyn: we reorder based on what comes out of that garbage pail. lemonis: carolyn's general manager, well, she wasn't general-managing. woman: i'm here to help you manage, not manage your salon, so don't start with me. woman #2: she's off saturday, sunday, and monday. woman #3: our biggest day, she's not even a part of. lemonis: well,

-larry: come on, marcus.ughter ] and i think he's finally settled in and gained the sort of self-confidence that vision quest needs him to have. this company is going to be very successful, and he's gonna make the employees and his family very proud. [ cheers and applause ] tonight on "the profit"... oh, my gosh! look at that hair. at a family-run hair-care business in north carolina... you have a business that does a $1.5 million a year. ...the profits are going right down the drain. ramona: we almost lost everything. lemonis: one of the owners won't stop pursuing expensive side projects. michael: we have corporate events, weddings. we did a television station. lemonis: ...leaving his wife and partner at wits' end... ramona: i have to cross every "t," dot every "i." lemonis: you mean do the work. ramona: yes. lemonis: ...and his daughter questioning her role in the company. taylore: it's tough when you have all these ideas, but you get this war in order to implement them. michael: you can't throw these away.

chris: thank you, marcus.monis: it's been a week since i shook hands with mike and nikki, and i've arranged for them to meet me in los angeles. all i've told them is that we're gonna do some market research. -nikki: hi. -lemonis: hi, guys. nice to see you again. -mike: marcus, good to see you. -lemonis: how are you? -mike: doing well. -nikki: good. -lemonis: so, i'm friends with this guy by the name of rob dyrdek. does that ring a bell to you? mike: oh, yeah. [ chuckles ] lemonis: rob dyrdek is an entrepreneur who's also a professional skateboard rider. he's one of the best out there. man: all right, guys. welcome to the fantasy factory. -nikki: thank you. oh, cool. very cool. mike: holy [bleep] lemonis: i think rob's gonna shed a lot of light on what the right price points are in the marketplace. he knows the industry. i also think he's gonna give us great feedback on the demographic. mike: rob, mike maloney. nice to meet you. rob: good to meet you. rob dyrdek. -lemonis: what's happening, my man? rob: appreci

-jon: okay, marcus. -andrew: thanks, marcus.emonis: you know, there's this old saying that when one door closes, another one opens. man: these walls are gonna be all blown out. lemonis: i think i just found that door on a much better location. man: 250,000 cars a day pass here. lemonis: the west side highway runs from west 72nd street all the way down the hudson river to lower manhattan. it's one of the busiest streets in manhattan. quite frankly, the exposure is gonna be great for business. man: you could fit about 18 to 20 cars within this space. lemonis: the challenge with our current space is that there's one way in and one way out. this has one way in and another way out. jon: i could literally look at like four or five cars at once. lemonis: in the old location, we were appraising around 600 cars a month and buying about 1/3 of everything we appraised, so 200 cars a month. in this new location, we should appraise about 1,000 cars a month and buy about 1/3 of them, so 333 cars a month. not only is it a better location, but

. >> reporter: ever since he was a kid marcus has had more energy than he's known what to do with. >>yed football, wrestle, throw indoor shot and outdoor shot. >> reporter: a tight end at william allen high school, even a few scholarship offers but this year his usually agile body started acting up. >> i wasn't performing at the level i thought i was capable of and weird to me. >> reporter: then a big snowstorm, marcus went to shovel his block. >> almost passed out. >> reporter: diagnosed with a rare, mysterious disease. severe aplass tia aminia. now even a quick trip down the stairs. >> i'm so sorry. >> reporter: will make him catch his breath. >> we have to do everything in ow pourer to make sure that marcus does to the get sick. >> reporter: and his mom says a common cold can kill him. marcus has to wear a mask almost everywhere he goes. >> and usually at the school -- >> prom, i actually went to. so i wore this. graduation. >> reporter: accepted to temple university, to study pre-med, but first he'll need a bone marrow transplant. and time is running out. so far, no matches have b

nicolas: marcus.emonis: and before you answer, just know that if you don't do a deal with me, you may not make it. nicolas: no. you want all of the accolade without doing any of the work. stephanie: nicolas. i don't want him to walk out that door because of this. hi i'm joan lund you're searching for something. like the perfect deal... ...on the perfect hotel. so wouldn't it be perfect if there was a single site where you could find the right hotel for you at the best price? there is. because tripadvisor now compares prices from over 200 booking sites... ...to save you up to 30%... ...on the hotel you want. trust this bird's words. tripadvisor. the latest reviews. the lowest prices. the future isn't silver suits anit's right now.s, think about it. we can push buttons and make cars appear out of thin air. find love anywhere. he's cute. and buy things from, well, everywhere. how? because our phones have evolved. so isn't it time our networks did too? introducing america's largest, most reliable 4g lte c

-lemonis: marcus. -cate: marcus. hello. hello. -lemonis: nice to meet you.te: welcome to our store. -lemonis: thank you. did you know lady and i made a deal for 50%? -cate: yeah. -lemonis: how long -have you been here? -cate: six years. and i assumed the store-manager role four weeks ago. lemonis: and so who do you report to now? cate: i answer to tasha. lemonis: how often does she come? cate: i have not seen tasha for over four years. lemonis: and how about lady? cate: i haven't seen lady in six years. i know she has been to the store in the last 12 months, -but i have not seen her. -lemonis: happened to be -a day you were off. -cate: yeah. katelyn: i've never met lady. and the roles of everyone is very confusing. lemonis: i'm definitely frustrated with the fact that tasha hasn't been in these stores managing these people. but if i was gonna hold one person accountable, it would be lady, the woman who owns this business. she should be setting the direction. -nice meeting you. -katelyn: you, too. lemonis: it was really nice meeting you. morning, guys. -cate:

-you know marcus. -lemonis: hi, i'm marcus. -nice to see you. -richard: you know michael. are you? -richard: you know us. lemonis: michael wants to sort of have an opportunity to present to you new flavors and some ideas. and we made one specifically to try to match your menu. michael: so what we brought here today is a few of the products that i think might work with your menu and then one, like i said, that i specifically tailored for you. richard: so, down in miami or in, i guess, maybe mexico, they just cut the mango open, put cayenne pepper on it, -squeeze a lime on it. -brian: yeah? michael: so give that a try. go ahead. yeah, so, it's a little soft 'cause, like, i said, that was made today. lemonis: there's a little kick at the end. brian: there it is. that's great. it's real subtle, too. michael: if we started producing this on a large scale, is it something you would think about bringing on your menu? brian: for here, probably not. -probably not. -lemonis: you would not. brian: probably not. like, what we do here is very simple. it's a very simple thing. right now

marcus, oh, it is wonderful to meet you. lemonis: nice to meet you.am: [ sighs ] so, great, yeah, this is dede. -dede: hi, i'm dede. -lemonis: hey, how are you? nice to meet you. what is this up front here? is this a retail store? it is our retail area, shipping and order packing... lemonis: a retail store? really? i feel like i'm walking into a high school bake sale. so what are the roles? you guys are partners? -alexa: with us? yes. -lemonis: yes. -sam: we're married. -alexa: yes. -lemonis: oh, you are married. -sam: yeah. -lemonis: oh, very cool. -sam: thank you. alexa: i do production and sam does marketing and officy stuff with dede and sales. sam: alexa was voted best chef in indiana two years in a row. lemonis: wow. so this is sriracha lime? how many different flavors do you have? alexa: over 200. lemonis: i can't think of any company that has a core product and decides to have 200 different types of them. i think when you're over a certain amount of flavors, it becomes unmanageable. i mean, even baskin-robbins thinks 31 flavors is enough. alex

marcus lives in virginia. was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when he was 27 years old. he has three young daughters and aces a lifetime of expensive treatment for his disease. because of the affordable care act and the guarantee of coverage that affords every american he did something he never thought he'd able to do., with ms, he started his own business. joe was from hilliard ohio. her daughter was born with cystic fibrosis. alison endured eight -- at a young age. when she was only seven alison had part of her lung removed because of the damage or disease caused. because she had health insurance which made drugs more affordable alison is a happy teenagerjill m planning eagerly for her future. jill made clear what would happen if trumpcare passes.ld all of those cf medications would become prohibitively expensive. under trumpcare jill would havei to make decisions about which drugs she could afford not which would work best to fight hert disease. annual or lifetime limits on health care coverage would mean constant worries about paying for the lifesaving care that ian,

my name is marcus lemonis, and i fix failing businesses. well under the "green tea" name. i make tough decisions... >> it was a mistake. >> this is never gonna happen again. and back them up with my own

max: marcus, some tea. lemonis: feels like you guys are, like, a little delusional about what's happening. her fancy branding is way off the mark. taylor: it looks like the queen of england would have it. and i don't think it should 'cause we make toilet cleaner. lemonis: her extravagant price point is way out of reach. max: so, the triggers, they're all $9 at retail. lemonis: who can afford that? max: yeah. lemonis: and yet she's more interested in her image than fixing the problem. kathy: my hope for you is throw away the facade. lemonis: if i can't force her to accept the truth, warts and all, this company's gonna go right down the drain. max: i feel like we deserve more because we're worth more. lemonis: you need to cut the... my name is marcus lemonis. and i risk my own money to save struggling businesses. we're not gonna wake up every morning wondering if we have a job. we're gonna wake up every morning wondering how many jobs we have to do. it's not always pretty. everything's gonna change. everythin

-lemonis: i'm marcus. -patrick: i'm patrick. it's so nice to meet you. lemonis: nice to meet you. i've seen this logo before. -patrick: mm-hmm. lemonis: i've seen it at barneys. i've seen it at nordstrom. -patrick: it's everywhere. this is kind of what made our brand super famous. i literally drew it on, like, a piece of paper. i'm like, "we have to make the plane look backwards and do everything in reverse print." lemonis: that is pretty cool. patrick: i'm originally from new york, and then i moved here, to los angeles.