“There are many different types of restaurants out there,” said Rick Weisser. As the Chief Financial Officer and partner for the seven locally owned and operated Fryn’ Pan restaurants for 39 years, he is well versed in the intense competition in the food service industry. Restaurants face pressure to keep their prices down even as their costs rise for food, wages, payroll taxes, and worker’s compensation, as well as for rent and property taxes.
Weisser’s business experience and training began in 1973 when he enrolled in the two-year accounting program at the Moorhead Area Vocational Technical Institute, as it was known at that time, and currently as M State. He described his educational training as a great learning experience, and he maintains a close connection with many of his fellow graduates. The most recent reunion was in December 2013 when over 160 former graduates shared their successes and challenges.
Along with his business acumen, family life is important to Weisser. He and his wife Cathy are proud parents of a 30-year-old daughter, who is a teacher in Minneapolis and a son, age 27, who is employed as a graphic designer at the Forum. Family appreciation has always been a priority, but it was reinforced several years ago when he was working in his garage. As he was climbing down on a ladder, he slipped and fell to the cement floor and lay unconscious until discovered by his son. The blow to the head created memory issues. Fortunately, it was a temporary situation, but it has had some lingering effects. On the positive side, the year-long recovery highlighted the importance of good health and family above all else.
Restaurants fall into several groups according to how the food is served to the customer. As a full-service restaurant, a Fryn’ Pan host invites their guests to be seated at tables, while servers take their full order and serve food and drink. The Moorhead Fryn’ Pan is one of seven restaurants in the company located in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota and originally started as an off-shoot of Country Kitchens in the early 1970s. Its Moorhead location has been in its EastTen location since moving in 1995 from Hwy 75 North.
Weisser emphasized that a dedicated staff is an extremely important component of success as there’s not a whole lot of room for error in the restaurant business. New restaurants open all the time, he continued, from pizza chains to fine restaurants to breakfast cafes. Restaurants face not only fierce competition from other restaurants that serve the same type of food and from national chains with huge advertising budgets, but also from food trucks and supermarkets that offer dine-in meals.
Weisser credits a large portion of the success of the Moorhead location to the long-time employees who have made a difference. Finding reliable employees is challenging for any business, and even if you manage to find good workers, retaining them is another challenge. As long-term employees tend to signify employee satisfaction, he noted that there are 13 long-term employees with one employee celebrating 40 years with the company.
“Good food and good service are keys to success,” Weisser said. “Make your business a place people enjoy coming to. The people — employees and customers — are the business.”
2920 U.S. 10, Moorhead, MN 56560
218) 236-0292
