Six in Seven:
Broad Street Oyster Co.'s journey from pop-up to six storefronts in 7 years
Location: Northern and Southern California
Restaurant type: Fast casual
Cuisine: Coastal
Years open: 7
The start: As a New York native with a strong appreciation for New England, Christopher Tompkins has a deep appreciation for seafood, specifically crab, lobster rolls, and oysters. Craving the freedom to handle things his way and on his own terms, he decided to start a pop-up food business with a menu built around the aforementioned three items. He sold his pickup truck to buy an old van that would store everything he needed to operate and avoid paying for storage.
For the next two years, seven days a week, he drove around and set up shop outside of any place that would let him, typically festivals, wineries, and breweries. He would also cold call businesses to offer his catering services in an effort to book up his calendar. As business grew, he went on to buy a second van and then a third, bringing in his friends to help him manage the growing responsibility. In 2019, however, everything changed. He was presented with an opportunity to open his first brick-and-mortar location in Malibu. Originally, he turned the opportunity down, but once he sat with it, he changed his mind. Suddenly, gone were the days of the pop-up shop. He quickly realized it was just as challenging as it looked.
The challenge: First, he had to officially pitch the idea to a multibillion-dollar real estate company, and then once they signed on to the idea, they gave him only a few weeks to open. “I'm like, okay, I have a restaurant now. Now what? And I honestly didn't have any idea,” he remembered. He began calling restaurateurs who previously let him operate as a pop-up, and the first thing they emphasized was the importance of permits and licenses. So he got a health permit, business license, etc., and pretty soon he opened up the doors of Broad Street Oyster Co. with a soft launch.
In the first couple of days, customers would just stumble in, pump their own beer, and order a lobster roll. From there, he studied everything about the days and took notes. “I don't know how the hell I transitioned from pop-up to a restaurant, but I had to learn.” Reflecting on those early days, he made a candid confession: “We were getting our [butts] kicked.” Everything from figuring out how to bring in all the goods from the vendors and making sure you have enough inventory every single day was new, and he learned on the fly.
Technology helped him manage a lot in the early days and even today. Because Tompkins started with a Square Reader, it was easy for him to grow into more expansive tools like Square for Restaurants. “I started this company with a Square Reader that I plugged into the bottom of my phone, and now, seven-plus years later, it’s become the nervous system for the entire operation,” said Tompkins. From the Square Kitchen Display System (KDS) that funnels orders from the front to the back of house to tools including Square Marketing, Square Loyalty, and Square Online, Tompkins has strategically leveraged technology to aid growth and efficiency.
Square products used: Square Register, Square for Retail, Square for Restaurants, Square Online, Square Marketing, Square Loyalty, and Square Payroll
The present: Today, Broad Street Oyster Co. just opened its sixth location and has multiple revenue streams, including merchandise. The business even features a dessert concept in Malibu that features coffee and ice cream, broadening its reach with audiences and diversifying its customer base.
The insight: The advice he’d give to other business owners is to be organic, stay true to yourself, and be willing to learn quickly. The branding of Broad Street Oyster Co. is reminiscent of his hometown and his appreciation for New England, and the physical locations are even reminiscent of his childhood bedroom. All of these elements work together to make Broad Street Oyster Co. stand apart from competitors. “It's just so important to be able to have something that the guests can take away besides the culinary experience so that they can remember it,” said Tompkins.
Editor's Note: Broad Street Oyster Co. was compensated for their time and participation by Square.
