lemonis: ...mr. green tea's growth could melt away. if michael told you that he was gonna leave, what would you say to him? richard: i guess i'd ask him when he was leaving. lemonis: my name is marcus lemonis. and i risk my own money to save struggling businesses. we're not gonna wake up every morning wondering if we have a job. we're gonna wake up every morning wondering how many jobs we have to do. it's not always pretty. everything's gonna change. everything. but i do it to save jobs, and i do it to make money. let's go to work. this is "the profit." ♪ located in keyport, new jersey, mr. green tea ice cream is a gourmet ice-cream manufacturer with a rich family history. founded in 1968 by santo emanuele, the company is run today by his son, richard, richard's wife, lori, and son, michael. when i met them in 2013, they were generating $2 million in sales, mainly coming from selling to restaurants. -that green tea's good. -lori: isn't it good? lemonis: and if we hadn't made a deal... $600,000 for 35% of the business. ...they'd probably

lemonis: wait a minute. i thought adelo was, like, mr. authentic. huge competitor that actually knocked him out of the market? adelo: distribution is huge with mission. lemonis: la fortaleza, did you feel like they were authentic? adelo: yes. lemonis: like, their product, did that feel authentic to you? adelo: it did. lemonis: so then why in the hell do you want to leave authentic? i have a meeting set up with the buyers from sam's club. do you feel like you're prepared to make a pitch? yet up 90% fall short in getting key nutrients from food alone. let's do more. add one a day men's complete with key nutrients we may need. plus heart-health support with b vitamins. one a day men's in gummies and tablets. with e*trade you see things your way. ♪ ♪ you have access to the right information at the right moment. ♪ ♪ and when you filter out the noise, it's easy to turn your vision into action. ♪ ♪ it's your trade. e*trade. start trading today at etrade.com ♪ (cover of chainsmokers 'don't l♪ me down') ♪ ♪ the issues we care about can weigh on us. so lift th

mr. lemonis, it's nice to meet you. lemonis: i'm marcus. nice to meet you.ndle on this product. man: yeah. it's an amazing machine. lemonis: if this took an hour on the water jet, how much time does it take on this machine? man: to cut that part is probably three times faster than the water jet. lemonis: okay. larry: with our water jet, first we have a run rate of $60 an hour at our place. this is $8. lemonis: when you say $8 versus $60...? man: electricity, gas consumption -- all the consumables that allow this machine to cut that material. lemonis: so, if it took an hour on the water jet, what do we pay our labor per hour on average? -larry: $22. -lemonis: okay. so i could divide that by three and save 1/3 of that -- around $7 -- in labor costs. -man: exactly. -larry: yeah. lemonis: so i have $15 of savings per hour on labor and $52 of savings per hour on the operation of the machine. -so that's $67 per hour. -larry: right. lemonis: and if you operated it on average eight hours a day, that's a $536-a-day savings. and if you run your business 350 days a yea

mr. lemonis, and here's to the simple greek. the simple greek locations are making money, and i spent more than $400,000 renovating all of them. and now we're getting ready to open up our first location in chicago, driving toward making us a national brand. today, though, i'm heading back to pittsburgh to see our latest conversion in market square. mike: what's happening, my man? how are you? -lemonis: it looks good in here. -mike: it does. yeah. lemonis: it came out a lot better than i thought it would. where's sasha at? -there you are! -sasha: good to see you. lemonis: look how packed your restaurant is. sasha: yeah, i know. it's doing well. i think it's a testament to the fact that we set up a really good concept with fresh food that allow people to eat a good, balanced meal during lunch. it's the middle of winter. it's freezing outside. and you can't fit any more people in here. rich, how are you, buddy? good to see you, my man. i don't want to get your hands dirty. all right. let's see the process happen. sasha: hi. would y

mr. lemonis, and here's to the simple greek. [ cheers and applause ] andreas: opa! lemonis: with the simple greek mt. lebanon location completed, i'm excited to move forward on to the other locations and continue this across the country. what i feel best about is i now believe in the product and the process. but i especially believe in the people. the future of the simple greek not only looks bright, but it looks very profitable. all: opa! [ cheers and applause ] kathleen: opa! a silicon valley flower start-up has seen spectacular growth. christina: we've completely changed the way customers buy flowers online now. lemonis: but it might not be long before the bloom is off the rose. christina: i'm worried they're gonna beat us to market. lemonis: its rivals are catching up. christina: to not be able to raise capital and then to see competitors come in and raise $10, $12, $15 million -- that does affect me. lemonis: its technology is falling short. it's not a great website. and it's frustrated founder is letting her bitterness get the best of her. why haven't you been

mr. lemonis. it's a pleasure to have you on the team. -lemonis: marcus.: thank you, marcus. ♪ 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

lemonis: okay, big day! [ applause ] big day. taylor: how's it going, mr. marcus? lemonis: how you doing, buddy?, man. lemonis: today's the day of the grand opening, and to be honest, i haven't been this excited about the unveiling of a new concept in a very long time. so, are you ready to go in? okay, i'll guide you in. okay, ready, hold on, don't look yet. okay. everybody in? okay, take a look. sarah: oh, my god! lemonis: this place has been completely transformed. dawn: this is amazing. it's so beautiful. lemonis: i give randy and dawn credit. they did the best they could with the resources they were given before, but now this place feels warm and inviting. honestly, this one's a home run. dawn: that's what i wanted the feel to be. walking into a kitchen, and you're our guest. lemonis: the store is now stocked with a wide variety of food and beverage options. taylor: y'all negotiated a good price point, so we're gonna be right about a 60% margin on each of these guys. lemonis: the shelves are full, accessories and books and other gift items. dawn: these are so adorable. lemonis: taylor picked

-lemonis: good. i'm marcus. mr. dilascia? -dan sr.: yes. -lemonis: nice to meet you.: you're done with the bakery. dan sr.: i did that for 43 years. lemonis: aren't you proud of your son? dan sr.: yes, i am. yes, yes. lemonis: i see a lot of families working together, and i think it's a testament to you and your wife how dan and kelly have really taken care of patrick. how does it feel to have everybody together? patrick: it's so nice. it's -- i love it. lemonis: is it any better working with patrick now, kelly? kelly: i was thinking about this yesterday, 'cause we drove from upstate together with not one fight. -patrick: yeah. -lemonis: was he sleeping? [ laughter ] now that patrick has a process in place, he won't need to be saved by his family every time. patrick: i cannot believe you guys are here. this is, like, crazy. lemonis: he still has some growing up to do, but he's made progress. i'll accept baby steps. patrick: thank you so much for everything. i appreciate it. -lemonis: i'm proud of you. -patrick: thank you. >> announcer: the following is a paid presenta

lemonis: two years ago, i bought an interest in mr. green tea ice cream. this is actually amazing. lemonis: and while we've been able to increase sales by nearly 100%... -is that your car? -michael: that's my car. lemonis: ...success has spawned a whole new set of challenges. michael: the entire future of the brand is based off of my vision. richard: that's something i'm not so sure of. lemonis: the owner's son is pushing for a piece of the pie. michael: i think 7% to 10% would be more than fair. lemonis: but his cavalier attitude isn't helpi isn't help. michael: who cares about a $10,000 up-front cost? lemonis: i think we all kind of care about the $10,000. and now a family feud is brewing in the business. richard: what's important to me is the most important thing. michael: you're not making any sense.

mr. deets. every branch running like headquarters. that's how you outmaneuver. lemonis i think we have to close. tranchina: i mean, how long you talking about closing for? lemonis: i don't know. however long it takes. look, three days ago, i thought we could fix the process and improve the food. but honestly, it's gonna take way more than that. if we really want to set the standard -- and i truly believe we can, 'cause these guys have the heart and the passion -- then we're gonna have to tear this place all the way down to the studs and start over. [ jackhammer pounding ] outside, i'm busting up the concrete, redoing the parking lot, and creating a whole new seating area -- more tables, more chairs, more money. so, you're gonna build a shake bar, and it's a radius counter. tranchina: i like that bar a lot, man. sammy: nobody's doing this. lemonis: one of the things that i want to do with this space is bring attention to the two business segments that we want to drive in terms of revenue and profitability -- a new ice cream station and a new potato station that have amaz