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Gary Brackett eyes Greencastle for possible Stacked Pickle franchise
Trying to expand on the success he’s found with a chain of restaurants in metropolitan Indianapolis, a former Indianapolis Colt star is now looking elsewhere in Indiana.
Perhaps Gary Brackett has his eyes on ... Greencastle?
The Putnam County seat is apparently the kind of place Brackett is looking to take his Stacked Pickle franchise next.
“I think the model of being a neighborhood sports bar really works in places beyond Indianapolis like Greencastle, in terms of demographics and finding a franchisee,” Brackett told the Banner Graphic recently.
With eight locations in and around Indianapolis, as well as one on the Purdue University campus, the sports restaurant is seeking to continue its expansion across Indiana and looking to open a Greencastle location by the end of 2019, bringing an estimated 35 jobs or more to the area.
After retiring from nine seasons as a Colt in 2011, Brackett fell in love with the food at Stacked Pickle, the focus on the local community and the family-friendly, neighborhood atmosphere, so he bought the restaurant and began expanding to the current nine locations.
“I was looking at life after the NFL. I was looking for something to do,” Brackett said. “I really found that the restaurant industry was a team sport. There are a lot of similarities between the restaurant industry and what I did in the NFL.”
And so the man who spent much of his Colts’ career with a “C” on his No. 58 jersey is captaining a different sort of team these days.
What he’s looking for right now are more teammates, specifically franchisees for the individual locations across the state.
While Greencastle is not the only focus of Brackett’s proposed expansion, he said it does bring qualities his team hopes to find in a franchise location.
“We know that DePauw University is there and typically college kids bring an influx of people, even at a small university,” Brackett said. “There are people there who would be interested in a restaurant that has multiple different offerings and can serve the entire community.”
While partnering with a Super Bowl champion sounds good to just about any fan of sports, wings, burgers and beer, there is a cost of entry, specifically $200,000 in liquid assets, Brackett said.
However, there is a bit more to it than money.
“We want someone that has a community mindset and is willing to give back to the community,” Brackett said, “and would give us some legendary customer service.”
Anyone interested in learning more can do so at buildthepickle.com.
Brackett said the process of opening a franchise usually takes around 12 months, so the earliest scenario for a possible Greencastle location would be late 2019 or early 2020.
As to a location for a potential restaurant, Brackett did not have a Greencastle-specific answer, but his requirements sound an awful lot like the east end of town.
“We typically want to be where the community goes out and shops. We call it the ‘daily needs center,’” Brakett said. “It’s typically a place that has a lot of traffic, a lot of visibility and plenty of parking, all those requirements.”
Asked why someone should consider opening one of his locations, Brackett spoke of the growth potential.
“I’d tell them that the full-service restaurant industry is an almost $800 billion industry,” Brackett said. “I think it’s going to continue to grow. It’s a way to grow wealth and something that hopefully you can hold for a long period of time and if can have a lot of value when it’s time to get out.
“I think it’s something that has the potential to be really big.”
For anyone interested in getting out and trying the Stacked Pickle themselves, the nearest location is in Plainfield at 2499 Perry Crossing Way, Suite 110.