lemonis: why don't we head over there. tony: thank you, marcus. thank you. monis: as i drove an hour and a half from new york city to his distribution facility, it dawned on me that, yeah, this is one of the problems. you're not in the business of delivering food, and you're spending 3, 4 hours a day driving. tony: can you just rinse this out real quick? hey, marcus. lemonis: oh, hey. tony: so, this is bill. this is actually my wife, stephanie. lemonis: oh, hi. tony: she's transitioning jobs, so she's helping us out. lemonis: you mean she's saving your ass? tony: i mean, yeah. lemonis: okay. as wives normally do, right? tony: absolutely. she's the boss. lemonis: and so what is this area? tony: this is where our deep freezers are. so this is like... lemonis: and all they do is get made in here? tony: yep. lemonis: and then they pop out and go into the bag? tony: correct. all these hold different flavors. so this is the yeti tracks, and this is what they're pulling from for delivery. lemonis: what's in this one? tony: it should be green tea, but we're making gr

jennifer: that's my baby, marcus. lemonisthat's your baby. [ both laugh ] chandler: depends on the day. lemonis: i love the passion and the commitment that she has to what she makes with her hands. you want to invest in people, you invest in people that have passion like that. chandler: i guess my position is, i'm just trying to find a way to do that super high quality responsibly as we grow. lemonis: but what do you mean, as you grow? chandler: i mean, we need more locations. lemonis: why? chandler: because we've got to achieve some sort of scale, because even though it is a little riskier to go to another store, it creates cash flow stability. i think about 100 stores in more densely populated areas. i don't think we can do enough in sales out of here to support two families. lemonis: i'm seeing the first conflict, with chandler wanting to open up stores all over the world, and mom falling in love with what she's making in lexington, kentucky. i don't know how those two worlds could actually come together. how are you, sir?

lemonis: i'm marcus. becky: i'm becky. lemonis: becky, nice to meet you. ky: very nice meeting you. john: marcus, privilege. john brown. lemonis: john, nice to meet you. john: nice to meet you, sir. becky: thank you for coming. lemonis: the smell when you walk in here is awesome. john: it is. lemonis: it was pretty good. why don't we take a look around? john: please. please. this is our storefront. we have an extremely loyal customer base. people are coming in buying 7, 8, 9, 12 bags of coffee. becky: we're in whole foods and earth fare and fresh market, as well, so they can just pick it up at the grocery store. lemonis: oh, you are? john: yes. lemonis: that's nice. who got that account? becky: the previous owner. john: previous owner. lemonis: and what will the entire business do? john: we did $840,000 last year. lemonis: how much profit? john: i want to say last year, it was $40,000 at the most. okay. this is our production area. lemonis: pause. the reason that the operation looked as legit as it did is because they actually bought the business from someb

my name is marcus lemonis, and this is an inside look. night we're going to give you an inside look of -- amber: frustrating episode. lemonis: uh-huh. soup market. do you know why i chose the soup market? amber: because you went to school in milwaukee, and this is in milwaukee. lemonis: yeah. i like milwaukee. you ever been to summerfest? amber: no. lemonis: harley-davidson? amber: no. lemonis: miller beer? amber: no. lemonis: the milwaukee brewers? amber: yes. lemonis: do you like cheese? amber: love it. lemonis: let's go to milwaukee! amber: that's wisconsin, cheese. lemonis: milwaukee is in wisconsin. amber: it is? lemonis: milwaukee, wisconsin. that's definitely going to be the opener. milwaukee has some of the best food and drink in the country, something i know well because i went to college there. that's me when i had hair, and one of the newer local favorites is the soup market... grace: hi, honey. how are you? lemonis: ...a quick-service chain started in 2004 by chef dave jurena and his business partner. dave: anything else for yo

lemonis: i'm marcus. stephanie: nice to meet you. stephanie. lemonis: stephanie, nice to meet you. w are you? dave: hi, marcus. i'm dave. lemonis: hey, dave. how are you? dave: great to meet you. lemonis: nice to meet you. jill: hi, i'm dave's wife -- jill. lemonis: how are you, jill? nice to meet you. so, are you both in the business? jill: no, i work awm in athletics. lemonis: oh, you do? dave: but she has worked farmers markets for us. lemonis: okay. well, i've never been in a place like this, so i wanted to kind of get a feel for it. dave: all right. so, the line where they serve people. lemonis: what's the most number of soups you have in one day, offered available? dave: we do up to nine. so, we have soup, salad, sandwich. lemonis: what's going on on that board? dave: i bought a new one, but it's too big. so that's gonna be the new look, assuming it's not all faded like that. lemonis: i want to taste what you're known for. dave: okay, well, i would start with the african-peanut and chicken. lemonis: it does have peanuts in it? dave: yes, peanut butter. lemonis: peanut butter?

charlotte: thanks, marcus. lemonisfilled, our first step is to get these cases manufactured by professionals. so the team is heading to hong kong... charlotte: yay, hong kong! lemonis: ...to one of the largest trade shows in the world. i'm expecting them to find the latest and greatest in cellphone cases, accessories, and the newest technology, but they're also there to work on their teamwork, something that definitely didn't exist at the casery. now that the team is back to los angeles, xavier and sunshine are working on all-new designs, so they can be printed by the manufacturer in hong kong, and skyler's working with the 3pl, a third-party logistics company that will receive the cases after they get air-shipped from hong kong. once received, they'll get inventoried and packaged and then shipped out to the t-mobile stores. skyler: we just got word that the iphone xr, one of the sizes is getting pushed back, the release date. karlo: ooh. skyler: so we're going to have to re-label basically all 7,000 of those units bef

lemonis: amanda, marcus. amanda: hey, marcus. it looks like you guys got ransacked. what the...? geez, what did i...? amanda: is it important to all of you. how you live, what you love. that's what inspired us to create america's most advanced internet. internet that puts you in charge. that protects what's important. it handles everything, and reaches everywhere. this is beyond wifi, this is xfi. simple. easy. awesome. xfinity, the future of awesome. to have things personalized with your winery name or...? lemonis: honest to god, i can't even stay [bleep] awake. look, my problem with amanda -- it's a confidence issue, and i'm really struggling in my confidence with her as our company's leader. what is amanda going to do when i'm not here? candis, let me make it a little easier. look at their shoes. candis: cute. lemonis: look at their bags. candis: cute. lemonis: look at their belts. candis: i love your shoes. julie: thank you. amanda: thank you. lemonis: i think what the ladies failed to tell you is they employee people from a

kristin: thanks, marcus. lemonisle can help him in his business. that's progress. ben: thank you. lemonis: take care, buddy. ♪ back at the warehouse, kristin has been doing an amazing job managing the inventory. kristin: so i did $20,000 the first two days, and then yesterday, i probably sold another $10,000, so it's probably like 40 grand all-in. lemonis: have you been able to order raw materials that solve our cold products? kristin: yes. lemonis: great. and ben is staying focused on the development of the new products. natalie: this is all the individual ingredients. ben: wow. lemonis: so he's back at agilex, finalizing the scent and candle line. natalie: okay, i'm going to make this one 6%, okay? ben: yeah, i love it. lemonis: and completing the designs for the wallpaper and wrapping paper. ben: so this would be, "make a wish. it's your birthday." lemonis: these are excellent. ben: yeah, thanks. ♪ lemonis: although it's going to take a while for the newly created products to go into production, i wanted to start

thank you, marcus. lemonis: okay, thank you, guys. so, this is a really good rep group. they have really good reach. okay? david: yeah. lemonis: let's go. all right. i appreciate that rachel hired david to lead the sales organization, but it's clear that that hasn't necessarily worked out. so i'm taking her to a food broker in chicago so she can see exactly how good or big the possibilities could be. rachel: so, yeah, i'd love to know a little bit about what you guys do. al: we're like the go-between between the manufacturer and the retailers. so, manufacturers that don't want to have their own sales force for whatever reason, they hire us, and we take products to market. walgreens and cvs. we do publix. we do myer. we do giant eagle, shopko. we also do target and walmart, as well. we have a pretty national coverage. rachel: a little back story from me, i was just a stay-at-home mom -- not "just." big job. but -- and wanted to start this business. and then, in the interim, my husband passed away, and it was out of nowhere, so we really

lemonis: hi, guys. so there you are. i'm marcus. david: david. lemonis: there's barely any flowers on display, and the floral designers, well, it's like they've hidden them in the back. do you know where i find hank? as i walk through the store, i don't understand where hank is. does anybody know where hank is? probably has his hands full with something. if this was my business, i'd be out front and center. when you went and met hank, why did you think he was a good candidate, or why did you think he needed help? amber: based on his finances alone, he was struggling. lemonis: would you be friends with hank maarse today? amber: today? no. lemonis: why? amber: i think what happened was really crappy, and the end was awful. lemonis: don't tell people what the end is. amber: people already know what the end is. lemonis: maybe they haven't seen it. amber: okay. lemonis: you always spoil things like that. amber: i don't spoil things. lemonis: don't tell people what's happening, okay? please. hello. marina: hi. lemonis: i'm marcus. how are you? marina: m

lemonis: let her know marcus is here. woman: okay. lemonis: thank you. didn't really understand when i walked into pacific, why i was seeing residential furniture. i thought this was a hospitality business. if this is a showroom, i don't think they're showing the right stuff. ana: hi, marcus! lemonis: are you ana? ana: yes. lemonis: how are you? ana: nice to meet you. lemonis: it's really nice to meet you. ana: yes. very nice to meet you. lemonis: how long have you guys been here? ana: we've been in this location about 13 years. lemonis: wow. ana: yes. lemonis: how are you, sir? i'm marcus. how are you, sir? nice to meet you. gilbert: me too. lemonis: how long have you guys been in business? gilbert: 40 years. lemonis: 40 years? and what is your business primarily? is it hospitality? ana: mostly hospitality. we do guest room furniture, public space furniture, as well as restaurant furniture. lemonis: and how much of your business is hospitality? ana: probably like 90%. lemonis: 90%. what's the other 10%? ana: a mix of like retail, as well as residential.

my name is marcus lemonis, and this is an inside look. cameraman: we're rolling. ber: are you gonna have more energy than you have now? lemonis: what's...? amber: you just don't have good -- you know how when us weekly is like, "oh, look at the star's body language," and it's, like, a couple where you can tell that they're kind of, like, sitting apart like that and they're just not getting along? your body language is just off. you're just, like... like, you look like you want nothing to do with me. lemonis: so, we're a couple now? amber: we're a tv couple. lemonis: good energy. bad energy. good attitude. bad attitude. amber: i've got a great attitude. lemonis: we're watching a specific episode because you said this is the only one you can bring energy for. amber: because i love this family. i really would love to just talk about your green sweater for green tea! [ laughs ] that's so lame. all right, let's go. we've got to watch this. lemonis: this week i'm going to keyport, new jersey. i'm going to meet the owners of mr. green tea, a family-run ice-cream business.

lemonis: what's happening? i'm marcus. taylor: what's up? taylor. nice to meet you. monis: taylor, nice to meet you. parker: parker. good to meet you, yeah. lemonis: so, is this your house? parker: yeah, i live here. taylor: this is the place of residence. lemonis: where's the office? taylor: right here. lemonis: and what is this batmobile? taylor: this is a car that i made a bet with a big youtuber that if he could sell 20,000 pairs of socks, i'd give him my car. he ended up selling like 18,000 pairs, and it brought him like $500,000 of revenue. i got to keep the car. lemonis: what do you when it rains? taylor: umbrella. nah, i just take an uber. lemonis: so, this is the headquarters? taylor: this is it. we'll do a couple million dollars out of here. here's a box of socks. so, it would be nine pairs. lemonis: what's one pair of socks sell for? taylor: depending how discounts -- we always have discounts floating -- they sell for anywhere from $7 to $15. lemonis: and what's the cost? taylor: it's $2. lemonis: what does the box sell for? taylor: that sells for 100 bucks

lemonis: marcus. christine: hi, marcus. christine. lemonis: nice to meet you.istine: this is thom. thom: hello. lemonis: hi, thom. i'm marcus. thom: marcus, nice to meet you. lemonis: nice to meet you. how long have you been in business? thom: i bought it in 1995. in fact, when i bought it, it was three people, and there's almost 50 people here now. my son is our sales manager. lemonis: how long has your son been in the business? thom: six years now. lemonis: how's that working? thom: well, the -- one of the things that we did was, when we started this, we said he doesn't report to me because there's always family dynamics that come into play. lemonis: you guys talk about business? thom: no. he doesn't report to me. we have a better balanced communication. lemonis: uh-huh. can i get a tour... thom: absolutely lemonis: ...see inside? thom: why don't we start off over here on the welding side? ♪ lemonis: what gets manufactured in this building? thom: all of the ramps, right from zero to finished product. this is what we call a portable access ramp. lemonis: how d

my name is marcus lemonis, and i fix failing businesses.'m willing to write a "half a million dollar" check. i make tough decisions. i'm not willing to do the deal if you're in charge of sales. back them up with my own cash.

mark: marcus... lemonis: thank you. mark: thank you so much. now that the deal is done, i'm super excited to get started working for santa, and i'm going to put some christmas in the air. these are good. i love these. heidi: good morning. mark: hey! lemonis: what's happening? hi. hunter: hello. emily: hi. lemonis: how are you? i'm marcus. emily: i'm good. i'm emily. lemonis: nice to meet you, emily. emily: nice to meet you. hunter: hunter. lemonis: hunter, nice to meet you. do you love all these toys? emily: yeah. lemonis: what do you think about making it better? hunter: yes. lemonis: what do you think we should do to it? hunter: just decorate it better so that way it doesn't look kind of cheap, almost. lemonis: oh, it looks cheap? okay. at least we have an honest family member. and what do you think they sacrifice for you? hunter: a lot. dad worked a lot. he still does. mom still does. we never get to have family outings, not very often, anyway. ♪ lemonis: i'm marcus. laura: hi, laura. nice to meet you. lemonis: laura? laura: yes. lemonis: nic

lemonis: i'm good. i'm marcus. ethan: yeah, welcome. nice to see you. lemonis: what is your name?an: i'm ethan. lemonis: ethan, nice to meet you. this is cool. ethan: yeah. lemonis: so, smithfly, tell me a little bit about the company. are you a fly fisherman? ethan: oh, yeah. and i was just frustrated with what was on the market at the time. i started doing some of my own design work. so, this was the core product line, which is based on kind of the military concept of modular packs and bags. like, this is molle webbing, which stands for modular lightweight, load-bearing equipment. you can mount multiple pouches, too. i sort of introduced it to the fly fishing side of things. so, like, i brought it to them. lemonis: so, what is this bag used for? ethan: uh, so, it holds tippets, spools, and like, fly boxes and kind of everything you need to be on the water to fish. lemonis: this is for fly fishing. ethan: mm-hmm. yep. lemonis: and are these straps right here? ethan: those are for, like, a belt. but the cool part is, straps mount to here or a padded like waist belt that you can mo

my name is marcus lemonis, and i fix failing businesses.his business will never function 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 cash. that's a real check, by the way. it's not always pretty... >> do you want to come over here? >> no. >> but this is business. i do it to save jobs, and i do it to make money. this the profit. [upbeat music] ♪ this week, i'm going to keyport, new jersey, a town that was devastated by hurricane sandy in 2012. i'm going to meet the owners o mr. green tea, a gourmet ice cream company. for nearly 50 years, mr. green tea has been hand-crafting exotic ice cream flavors and supplying the asian restaurant trade in new york city. >> so delicious. >> way ahead of their time, mr. green tea was producing flavors like green tea, ginger, and red bean. this family business was founded by richard's dad, santo emanuele, in 1968, who ran it with richard's older brother, james. richard's dad passed away, and then his brother

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

>> my name is marcus lemonis, and i fix failing businesses. don't know how you run your business this way. i make tough decisions. i can tell you for damn sure, you're replaceable. and i back them up with my own cash. there's your check. it's not always pretty. everybody's working hard, not just you. but this is business. >> i was just gonna try to stop you in your tracks. >> you'll never to stop me in my tracks. i do it to save jobs, and i do it to make money. >> ching-ching. >> this is the profit. [upbeat music] ♪ worldwide trailers designs, builds, and sells concession trailers, mostly to food vendors. tom etheridge and nancy pappas started the company in 2001, and took it from a backyard start-up to a multimillion dollar business. >> you got 50%. i got 50%. >> tom and nancy were a couple, and although their relationship came to an abrupt end three years ago, they have continued to work together. >> working with nancy is difficult. nance, you never agree with anything i say anyway, so what's the point? >> i not only run the company, but i a

my name is marcus lemonis, and i fix failing businesses. i'm willing to write a "half a million dollar" check. i make tough decisions. i'm not willing to do the deal if you're in charge of sales. back them up with my own cash. it's not always pretty. i'll take the shower. jen, you take the toilet. >> i don't do the toilet in my own house. really? >> but this is business. i do it to save jobs, and i do it to make money. this the profit. [upbeat music] ♪ eco-me is an all-natural cleaning product started by robin kay levine in 2006. with the partnership of her childhood friend jen mihajlov, a 12% owner, they built eco-me up from a small, do-it-yourself cleaning kit to a 17-piece cleaning line, including dog-grooming products. this product is sold nationwide at stores like whole foods and target, and last year they did a half a million dollars in sales, with only six employees. i personally use this product in my own home and find that it works extremely well. to stay in business, robin has leveraged friends and family to find every penny she c