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Changing of the guard at Almost Home puts Neeley in GM seat
For Dave Neeley, Almost Home has been, well ... almost like home.
"I feel like I've raised him in this restaurant," Almost Home creator and restaurateur Gail Smith said in announcing that Neeley has been named general manager of the downtown dining staple.
Both Smith and Neeley tell the same story about his association with Almost Home, and how, as a youngster, Neeley would frequently visit the restaurant to buy the latest and greatest Beanie Babies during that 1990s craze.
"Back when we sold Beanie Babies, he would come in all the time and buy them," Smith recalled. "He had such a habit back in the day, I had to give him a job."
"Gail used to sell Beanie Babies," Neeley said in a separate interview, "and I was addicted to Beanie Babies and had to support my habit."
So at age 14 or 15 he was hired on as a dishwasher.
"I did dishes," Neeley said, "and basically gave her my check back."
But beyond that, Neeley said Smith "invested" in him, teaching him how to cook and letting him be involved in restaurant operations that have led to this moment where he is now taking the reins and overseeing day-to-day operations at Almost Home.
The move will allow Smith some flexibility and perhaps even some well-earned time away from the restaurant business.
"For 28 years Gail has basically been running it, the kitchen and everything else," Neeley noted. "Every aspect of it has been on her shoulders. But she's a risk taker and I think it's paid off in what she's done.
"The goal now is to get her to be able to do what she's always wanted to do but has never had the time," the new GM added. "The hope is as this progresses, she won't have to be here."
Smith agreed that spending more time with her grandkids and getting to enjoy life do have a certain appeal.
"It's time for me to step back a bit," she said, "and focus on community things that could help grow the business and enjoy that. I can't be in the trenches all the time 24/7, seven days a week. I've outgrown the trenches."
Smith admitted she's often thought about an exit strategy, "but was never sure what that would be."
"Other than my two sons who want no part of this business, I feel Dave is the perfect candidate to take Almost Home into the future," she praised. "He's emotionally attached to this business."
And for the 35-year-old Neeley, the new role will be a welcome challenge.
"I feel it's cool the restaurant is being handed off to someone who grew up in this place and knows the customers by name," said Neeley, whose history with Almost Home has been on and off over the past 20 years. "This transition is very welcome and I think Gail's looking forward to it. But it also has to be difficult to let go after 28 years."
Overall, Neeley said he is "excited and looking forward to the challenge."
A 2002 Greencastle High School graduate, Neeley is the son of Paul and Teresa Neeley. He and wife Kasey have a four-year-old son Elijah.
Neeley, who holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Liberty University in Virginia, will remain pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church.
For his role at Almost Home, Neeley says he wants to "expand on the success we've had the past 28 years and not come in here like a bull in the china shop."
Noting that "sometimes people don't realize what all we offer," he wants to promote family dining and stresses that Almost Home indeed does have a kids' menu available.
With Almost Home now open at 9 a.m. Monday through Saturday, Neeley wants to stress the "grab-and-go" case it offers up front, where sandwiches, salads, cutie cakes (smaller versions of the originals) and more are available. Customers in a hurry can get coffee and a pastry to go as well, he said.
Besides pushing the grab-and-go idea, Neeley is hoping to expand to offer items like hummus and bottles of the restaurant's own dressings.
That way, he said, customers can have "a piece of Almost Home they can take with them."