Dear Valued Guest: Thank you for visiting Shoeless Joe’s Restaurants. 20 years ago, I bought a restaurant called Shoeless Joe’s at Eglinton and Oriole Parkway in Toronto. I remember that when I started this business in 1985 there were a lot of people who doubted that I would succeed. Having immigrated from my homeland of Italy to Canada, I didn’t speak English well, but I had the will and spirit to succeed. I wanted to live the dream that all people immigrating wanted to live and I was determined to make it happen. In just 3 years, I had my business paid off in it’s entirety. You should have seen the look on the bank manager’s face when I showed up, 7 years ahead of schedule to pay off my loans. This gave me a wonderful sense of pride and it is one that I share with all of our franchisees. In fact one of our earliest franchisees was my first employee, Siva who bought the Eglinton and Oriole Parkway location that I started with. Today, I am very proud to say that Shoeless Joe’s has more than 40 locations stretching from Kingston to Guelph. This makes us the largest sports-themed restaurant chain in Canada. I am also very proud to say that the majority of our franchisees have accomplished the same goal I accomplished 20 years ago, and have paid off all of their debts in 3 years. You can look forward to hearing a lot more about Shoeless Joe’s in the years to come as we are looking to do some tremendous growth over the next 5 years. Thank you again, enjoy your meal, and have fun. Fred Lopreiato |