Bringing
New Meaning to the Phrase
"Mom & Pop Store"
by Anne Batty
In
times past the phrase "mom and pop store" usually
referred to a single business run by a husband and wife. One
often handed down from the previous generation. Today, San Clementeans
Mike and Sue McGeary, owners of the Pier Market and Beach Garden
Café, are happily redefining that phrase. Although their
philosophy and practices typify the "mom and pop"
mentality, they are working hard to apply its principles not
just to one, but to two businesses, situated side-by side in
the Pier Bowl area - while "mom" minds one store,
"pop" runs the other.
This whole adventure originally
did start with just the one store. And although its purchase
did involve the generosity of Mike's family, among other financial
resources, the business wasn't handed down from another generation.
As a matter of fact, the beginnings were rather bizarre.
As the McGearys tell it, their
first endeavor, the Pier Market was acquired because Mike got
the wrong airline tickets in the mail. It seems that Mike McGeary
and Mike Yeatman, then owner of the Pier Market, worked for
the same company in different divisions and didn't yet know
each other. When McGeary called Yeatman to let him know he had
his tickets, their conversation eventually led to the discussion
of what their wives did for a living. As it turned out Yeatman's
wife was managing the Pier Market while he traveled on business,
and Sue was acting as a liaison, getting product to grocery
stores. From all appearances, the handwriting was on the wall.
This chance meeting became
the catalyst for friendship between the two men. In November
of 1994, McGeary made a lunch date with Yeatman and discovered
he had accepted a position in Florida and was trying to sell
the market.
"No one in San Clemente
knew it was for sale," Sue piped in grinning
animatedly, "because, if you can believe, Yeatman was only
advertising in
Irvine."
Always desiring a business of
his own, Mike thought having a market would be fun. Plus, he
fell in love with its location. Thus he and Sue bought the shop.
She was elected to run it, while he continued his "real
job" as the traveling Regional Manager - Convenience Store
Division - of Very Fine, a foodservice company.
Sue remembers being scared to
death of running a business she knew very little about. Although
she had lots of past restaurant experience and her present job
was grocer related, owning and managing a market seemed an awesome
task.
"I wasn't worried,"
Mike added, "I knew she could do it. Sue always accuses
me of throwing her into things and I guess I do. But she always
handles it."
McGeary's background certainly
had prepared her for the task. No stranger to hard work, money
management and struggle, before her marriage to Mike, Sue had
been a single mom. She remembers having a daily lunch budget
of $1.07 for a burrito from Del Taco, no drink. Her youngest
son, then five, could determine her 1st or 15th paycheck by
whether or not he could finally purchase a Happy Meal. Then
when she met and married Mike, for seven years, her work day
began at 4:15 am and ended at 7 pm, as she juggled working,
homemaking and family activities while Mike traveled in his
job.
"I used to change from work clothes to jeans in the baby-sitter's
bathroom so I could get to the Little League games on time,"
Sue reminisced.
It was experiences like those,
coupled with the faith of her husband, which equipped Sue with
the determination to dig-in and become the "mom" running
the store (at least for a while) without the "pop."
That situation didn't last long,
however. Just seven months after the purchase of the market,
Mike came home one day and told Sue he had quit his job. Like
many budding entrepreneurs, he was fed up with traveling and
putting forth effort to benefit the other guy. He was also finding
it difficult to help Sue with the business via telephone, and
most importantly was tired of missing out on things with his
family.
Now panic set in big time as Sue
wondered how they were ever going to make it without Mike's
salary. Mike, on the other hand, was confident. He just knew
if they both worked hard, they could make a go of it. So for
the next two years the couple spent long hours building the
business, arranging their shifts so one of them could be around
for their two sons at all times. All the while, Mike, in true
male hunter/forager/provider style, had one eye on the market
and the other on the business next door coveting - wishing
it were his.
In 1996 Mike got his wish when
Dale and Tina Wolfe sold the McGearys the Beach Garden Cafe.
They were ecstatic. Since Sue's background was strongest in
restaurant management, the cafe became her baby, while Mike
continued to apply his convenience store expertise to the market.
Sue had no fear this time around.
She was operating in her realm now. Confident in her skills,
she immediately set about applying her personal touches to the
café.
New dishes and cutlery, a slice of lemon in the water glasses,
additions to the menu, including upgraded ingredients and homemade
blintzes, and most importantly a change in the coffee, to the
finest grade available for restaurant purchase. Although the
shops are the responsibility of each of the McGearys individually,
they cover for one another whenever necessary. Sue still keeps
the books for both businesses.
"She's in charge of
paper," Mike chuckles, "she's good at details."
What makes this arrangement
work is the obvious togetherness the couple exudes. There is
no one-upsmanship here. Each has their job to do and they do
it with gusto. Their goals are the same. Hire employees with
personality and people skills, treat them fairly, give customers
the best product possible - with ambiance - and most of all,
have fun doing what they are doing.
"That's the key,"
Mike offered thoughtfully, "we have worked long, hard hours
to make our businesses grow and we are proud of how much they
have. But the most important thing is that we honestly have
fun doing what we are doing. That's the best part."
The McGeary's now
live in a lovely home in Forester ranch here in town. But it
wasn't always that way. In the beginning they leased in Tocayo
Canyon, then bought their first home in Forester via the GI
Bill with little money down.
"Sometimes people look
at the success of others and think it has always been that way,"
Sue remarked. "I think it is important to know that for
the most part, success comes with lots of hard work and sacrifice.
When we first acquired the market, we commuted daily to San
Clemente from Diamond Bar. We didn't sell our condo there, we
leased it, then rented a place in town - just in case things
didn't work out here," she chuckled.
The McGeary's oldest son Scott
will graduate from San Clemente High School this year and attend
Saddleback next. Now that the family has found the village,
and he has found the surf, he isn't interested in going away
to school quite yet. For now, he and his younger brother, Matt,
will continue attending school locally, and helping out in the
family's businesses whenever they are needed.
In the McGearys, the "mom
and pop store" lives on. The scenario may have varied a
little, but the principals are alive and well. All the ingredients
are there; hard work, personal service and genuine care for
the customer, an inviting atmosphere, a fanatical desire to
provide the finest in foods, lots of good humor and a passion
for making it all just plain fun. For these San Clementeans
that seems to be what living and working in San Clemente is
all about.
