Cover Society: All in Frank Day’s Work

Rock Bottom Restaurants founder Frank Day tries to balance succession planning with staying involved.

By Mary Boltz Chapman, Editor-in-Chief -- Chain Leader, 5/1/2007

Chain Leader featured Rock Bottom Restaurants founder and Chairman Frank Day on the cover in January 2000. At the time, he was CEO of the newly private company of 67 restaurants, trying to slow growth to build margins. Today, Day works on policy and strategy rather than operations for the Denver-based organization, which comprises 126 company and franchised outlets. He spoke candidly with Chain Leader about his changing role.

At the time we talked to you in 2000, you had recently gone private. Last year you were looking at strategic alternatives. Is going public an option again?

Probably not, although it is possible sometime in the future. We engaged Piper Jaffray in ’06 to explore some alternatives, and we talked to a lot of people. We didn’t find a perfect match, so we didn’t do anything. And we’re still exploring some possibilities.

The founders, myself included, are getting along in years, and we’re looking for an exit strategy. On the other hand, we’re very interested in seeing the company continue, and the management continue if possible, and particularly the culture of the company continue. We have a lot of people who have been with us a lot of years, so we’re very interested in seeing the operations continue.

What is your current role? Are you involved in day-to-day running of operations or anything like that?

No, I haven’t been for several years. I’m more into policy. That said, I’ve been known to stick my head or my hand into some problems now and then.

That has to be an interesting balance to walk.

Well, after years of hands-on operation, and I still am active in running some other restaurants and a couple of hotels, sometimes it’s difficult not to be hands-on.

What is it that tells you, "Frank, back off"?

I’ve always been an advocate of building up people to do the job who are in the organization. You can’t try and stand in their shoes, so even though you’d like to sometimes, you have to let them do it their way. And even if you fear their way may not be the way to go, you have to let it happen, and that’s how people learn. And sometimes they’re quite right and I’m wrong.

Do you have a deadline for yourself, like, "I want to be sitting on a beach by the end of next year"?

What do I want to do when I grow up? Well, I’ll tell you, I’ve lived an interesting life. I turn 75 this summer, but I’m still very active. I will have skied probably 35 or 40 days this winter. I go sailing. I get plenty of beach time. I do a lot of traveling. But I continue to work, and so I’ve managed to blend these things.

So when people say, "When are you going to retire?" I say, "I am." You know, what do you want me to do, find a rocking chair somewhere? So as long as I’m physically and mentally able, I’m going to keep doing what I do.

No, you don’t sound like you’re ready for any rocking chairs.

But on the other hand, I can’t just pretend I’m going to be around forever, thus my interest in seeing the major part of my life, Rock Bottom Restaurants, find its path.

Some people have said, "Gee, you spent a whole year on these strategic alternatives, but you’ve got nothing to show for it." Not quite right. I have an interesting education to show for it. Maybe that will let me do a better job of achieving what I want to achieve.