Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/177159
Next Generation continued Playing to the Base It takes a certain type of customer,and most certainly wherewithal, to invest in such an undertaking, and the same goes for the distributor. Resolute in strengthening his niche, Rossi steers clear of the traditional. "We don't have rows of sixburner ranges or a large warehouse," he says."We don't cater to independents or focus on Internet sales. We tried it and found out very quickly we weren't very good at it." Where Avanti continues to excel is in working with chains poised for growth—a trait the Sacramento-based distributor shares with its base. It's been growing like crazy, according to Rossi, who not long ago made the move to Southern California to oversee his company's expansion into the region. "There are a lot of different dealers out there that fill a lot of different niches," he says. "I think what makes us different is that we are a team—not a bunch of cells running independent of one another. We all work together, we all help one another, we all share the same values, so no matter who you work with in our office, the experience should be the same.We work very hard to create that." Morgan Tucker, Senior Account Executive, M Tucker The day Morgan Tucker left home to attend Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, she was certain of two things. One, she wanted a career in the hospitality industry, most certainly 12 FEDA News & Views Photo by Dominick & Melissa Kallert says Rossi."We literally assembled a real kitchen for them and tweaked it so they could determine their most efficient kitchen layout. Our designers were drawing it and we were dynamically updating the cost as we pulled equipment in and out and discussed how it would affect their budget. It helped them with their flow, their ticket time and it also provided ideas for future menu options." in management and possibly ownership. And two, unlike her father, Stephen Tucker, the president of E&S distributor M.Tucker, she would not be a part of the family business. The business that was founded in1955 by her grandfather Marvin. "Growing up, I never imagined myself coming to work for Tucker," says the 20something sales executive known as"littlemtucker" in Twitter land. "I never wanted a desk job and I never wanted to come to the office at 6 a.m. like my father does, leave at 5, or work in an office five days a week." Instead, she wanted a career on her own terms—which is what initially drew her to the other side of hospitali- ty. Actually, the seeds had been planted eons earlier by Tucker's parents, quintessential New Yorkers who dined out, kids in tow, far more than they dined in. "My mother was a successful business woman and my father ran a successful business, so we grew up eating out 350 nights out of the year," says Tucker. "I loved the lifestyle and I was always interested in what was going on from one restaurant to the next." Hospitality was the obvious route to bundle her loves—love of city, love of culture, love of night life—and no 9 to 5. But a career in restaurant operations, particularly in New York, had its own set of terms, too, marathon shifts, odd continued on page 14