“ Despite starting off a little slow , by sixto-eight months down the line we doubled , and then tripled our sales . By 2008 we had four stores , and I had to make the decision whether I was going to retire from baseball and return to fully commit myself to the family business . I ’ m a pretty competitive guy , so I decided that if Tomey Group was going to be my main focus , we needed to step things up . Unfortunately , we had a tough couple of years with the recession , but by 2010 , things had stabilized , and over the following eight years we managed to build our portfolio up to 24 stores . Then everything changed , overnight .
“ The number one franchisee across Michigan , California and Arizona offered us the opportunity to buy all of his Michigan locations , which we did ,” Anthony states . “ That purchase took us up to 51 restaurants in less than 24 hours , which was a big move for us , but we were well prepared . We met with the people who worked in his stores and reassured them that things were going to be different under the Tomey Group , and they were going to be better supported . Our team ’ s long tenure is a true testament to that ; our top 15 people have all been with us well over ten years . Although we ’ re of a decent size now , we are still a family business and our employees are treated as such , like family . We have an opendoor policy , and nobody is too senior to roll up their sleeves and help to make sandwiches .”
Loyal workforce
The pandemic gave the Tomey family a rare opportunity to put this mentality to the ultimate test . Prior to COVID fully hitting Michigan in March 2020 , the company employed around 800 people . Unfortunately , as sales started dropping , and the panic and fear began to rise , the group was forced to close all of its locations for six weeks , with only their most senior members remaining on payroll .
“ This was until my brother and I opened up one of the stores , to fulfil a large catering
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