A Legacy of Commitment: Operator and A&W go back more than 4 decades

Name: James Brajdic
Title: President
Company: Customer Maniacs and Green Bay A Dub
No. of units: 13 A&W
Age: 53
Family: Wife and 2 kids
Years in franchising: 23
Years in current position: 2

In the case of James Brajdic and A&W Restaurants, familiarity bred passion. Brajdic grew up with the brand and spent his entire career in the food service industry. He now operates 13 A&W locations in Central Wisconsin, and he’s happily wrapped up in the brand’s close-knit culture. 

Brajdic fondly recalls visiting the A&W within walking distance of his childhood home. For several years, his father eyed purchasing the restaurant and eventually joined with a partner to seal the deal when Brajdic was 11. Two years later, Brajdic took his first job as a dishwasher at the store. His mother oversaw the daily operations, and his father managed the books.

When it was time to go to college, Brajdic’s father suggested he major in hospitality with the thought of eventually following in the family business. He began working at his parents’ restaurant a year after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Stout and was soon managing a thriving remodeled location. That success caught the attention of A&W officials, who met with Brajdic and trained him to become a multi-unit operator in the system.

Through that process, he was introduced to Barb Gretzinger, an experienced multi-unit operator with several restaurant brands. The two became partners and currently own 13 A&W locations, including the drive-in restaurant in Lakeside Park, Wisconsin, that he enjoyed as a child and his parents bought 42 years ago.

Brajdic has dealt with adversity and change over more than two decades as a restaurant franchisee, but he overcame obstacles in his path and persevered. Business was lean during the recession 15 years ago, and he received assistance from the franchisor to survive. More recently, he and others in the restaurant industry had to deal with lost customers and safety restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“I believe challenges are opportunities for us to work together to solve problems,” Brajdic says. “Even during your worst days, there are opportunities to fix the problem and be better as a result. We rarely have serious disagreements, but when we do, we are able to work through them and find a solution.”

That mindset has gotten Brajdic through difficult times and deepened his appreciation of the family culture throughout the A&W system. The philosophy has guided him through a long history with the brand and drives him forward as he looks to grow the business in the coming years.

“The people are the most important part of A&W,” Brajdic says. “The franchisor and franchisees have a great relationship and work very well together. Our new president is very focused on growing the brand and keeping franchisees profitable. We are a tight-knit group, and that is important to me. At the end of the day, I just hope I can give my employees a great life and everything they need.” 

PERSONAL

First job: I was a dishwasher at my parents’ A&W Restaurant when I was 13. 

Formative influences/events: I grew up close to an A&W Restaurant, and our family loved going there. My father wanted to buy that restaurant or a McDonald’s franchise for several years, but the timing wasn’t right. Through a partnership with another local family, my parents purchased the A&W Restaurant, and I was exposed to the industry at a young age. That played a big part in shaping my career path.

Key accomplishments: We opened four restaurants over a 10-month period in 2008–09 when we built several test stores. We experienced a 7% annual growth in our original store over a 20-year period. We also made $30,000 over a single hour in sales at an offsite special event earlier this year. 

Biggest current challenge: Finding real estate. It is difficult to find affordable land at a location that will be good for your business.

Next big goal: We would like to open another five stores over the next five years.

First turning point in your career: Growing our first store sales double digits over five years and grabbing the attention of A&W, which helped us grow into a multi-unit operator. 

Best business decision: Becoming a second-generation owner of the A&W franchise.

Hardest lesson learned: Growing too fast in 2009 when the economy crashed. Our sales decreased, and one of our competitors built stores right next to several of our locations. I never felt like we wouldn’t make it, but things were bleak for a while. We were on the last leg of our SBA loan, and things were pretty tough. We were fortunate to make it through.

Work week: Every day is different, but I have specific responsibilities for each day. I have weekly calls with our franchisor board. I speak to area coaches both as a group and individually and speak directly with our franchisees either by phone or in-store visits.

Exercise/workout: Not enough.

Best advice you ever got: Two people have essentially said that I control my own destiny. My high school basketball coach told me, “If it’s gonna be, it’s up to me,” and a former franchisee, said, “If you can believe it, you can achieve it.”

What’s your passion in business? My passion has changed from caring and taking care of people to mentoring them, empowering them to grow, achieve their goals, and unlock their true potential.

How do you balance life and work? I used to work 120 hours a week and always found joy in business travel. However, I now work a bit less and trust my team to manage the business. This gives me the opportunity to spend more quality time with my family, who have always been supportive of my demanding schedule.

Guilty pleasure: Bourbon. 

Favorite book: All Jim Sullivan books and The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews. 

Favorite movie: “For the Love of the Game.”

What do most people not know about you? I broke the 600-yard dash record in gym class during my sophomore year of high school.

Pet peeve: The presence of drama can be a true team killer, undermining collaboration, creating tension, and distracting everyone from achieving their goals.

What did you want to be when you grew up? Self-employed.

Last vacation: Mexico in October.

Person you’d most like to have lunch with: Bobby Knight.

MANAGEMENT

Business philosophy: Operating with integrity and transparency. Upholding ethical standards, being honest, and having open communication with employees, customers, and stakeholders, and building trust and credibility.

Management method or style: Servant leadership. I believe in giving my managers freedom and flexibility. We are sensitive to people’s needs and always try to figure out a solution to help others. We want to create an atmosphere of openness of conversation.

Greatest challenge: Having enough time is a constant challenge. It makes it difficult to balance strategic planning, daily operations, and personal commitments while also navigating the struggle to manage competing priorities effectively.

How do others describe you? As a caring person.

Have you ever been in a mentor-mentee relationship? I have learned so much from many others in the A&W system and gained extensive knowledge about the facets of operating multiple franchises. 

One thing you’re looking to do better: Balancing accountability with support to ensure employees are held responsible for their performance while feeling motivated and valued.

How you give your team room to innovate and experiment: We hold weekly conversations with all managers to discuss opportunities at their local stores and test ideas on a small scale before rolling them out across all locations.

How close are you to operations? I’m quite involved with operations, having run some shifts during Covid, and I continue to lend a hand whenever needed when I’m in a store.

What are the two most important things you rely on from your franchisor? The POS development to drive online ordering with profitable sales is very important along with leadership to drive LTOs and profitable sales.

What you need from vendors: To deliver our product to the high specification that our customers and brand expect. 

Have you changed your marketing strategy in response to the economy? How? A&W is primarily focused on strategies around developing products. We are a small chain. Quality is our value proposition, so we, hopefully, don’t have to discount as much as others.

How is social media affecting your business? Our social media ad spending continues to increase as we receive measurable results. 

In what ways are you using technology (like AI) to manage your business? Many of our vendors are currently using AI as we look forward to third parties to help drive sales in the future. 

How do you hire and fire? We want to give our employees a second chance. If they decide not to work for us after that, it is their decision.

How do you train and retain? We use a series of training videos when bringing on new employees. We also teach them about our culture and how we are a family-oriented company.

How do you deal with problem employees? It is my least favorite thing to do. It’s rare that I get involved on that side. 

Fastest way into your doghouse: Not following through to the finish line with a project.

BOTTOM LINE

Annual revenue: $13 million.

2025 goals: Drive sales by investment spending on advertising and drive profitability by three points by giving the managers an increased portion of the profits. When they win, we win. 

Growth meter: How do you measure your growth? Through profitability and sales. We have been more focused on P&L statements recently. We will grow slowly and methodically, but we always want to see our topline sales increase. 

Vision meter: Where do you want to be in five years? 10 years? We are going to add five stores within our current DMA. We are also looking to remodel some restaurants within the market to help drive sales. In the 10-year plan, we would like to consider developing an additional market. 

Do you have brands in different segments? Why/why not? We have looked a few times at other brands, but it is difficult to leave a good situation we have with A&W. We are all family here and believe the A&W franchise has been moving in the right direction to grow the brand. 

How is the economy in your region(s) affecting you, your employees, your customers? We haven’t noticed any significant impact from the current economy aside from needing to raise our prices to stay profitable. Despite this, our customer counts have remained strong.

Are you experiencing economic growth in your market? Yes. We are ecstatic that we have experienced a double-digit increase for the year.

How do changes in the economy affect the way you do business? We have had an incredible run in sales and profitability in 2024 and continue our path. We have no plan for changes.

How do you forecast for your business? It is important to have a strong bench plan. If you don’t have that, you will find yourself in trouble. There were some challenges we faced with that during Covid-19. We can now hold people accountable so that we can produce the quality that customers expect. 

What are the best sources for capital expansion? We have not used our real estate as leverage and have used old-fashioned cash flow. We want to ensure that we never have another 2009 and can be ready for the opportunities when they arise.

Experience with private equity, local banks, national banks, other institutions? Why/why not? We value our relationships with local banks and for good reason. During the 2009 crash, we were fortunate to work with a local bank that provided the financial support we needed to get through that challenging time. Without their help, I doubt I would be a multi-unit owner today.

What are you doing to take care of your employees? I think it is important to listen to them and be sensitive to their needs. That comes with the family-friendly environment we create. 

How are you handling rising employee costs (payroll, minimum wage, healthcare, etc.)? We consistently manage our two major cost areas by monitoring labor on a daily basis and food weekly. If we encounter significant food variances, we switch to daily tracking. For labor expenses, we adjust and pay based on what our budget allows. We have not been shy about raising prices over the past year. 

What laws and regulations are affecting your business, and how are you dealing with them? There are so many regulations we deal with, and it is very challenging to follow them all. Some examples are overtime rules and wages for managers. It takes up a lot of my time.

How do you reward/recognize top-performing employees? We publicly recognize them among their peers and reward them through our bonus programs. Additionally, we take select top performers to our A&W conventions and provide a special acknowledgment of their contributions. 

What kind of exit strategy do you have in place? My exit strategy involves selling stores back to the dedicated employees who supported me and contributed to the success of the business, ensuring a smooth transition and a legacy of care and commitment.