The Barbara Blue: blueberry compote, melted Brie, and ham between the halves of a grilled donut
Blaming “circumstances beyond our control,” Tom + Chee announced via Facebook that it has closed its location at 1280 Highway K in O’Fallon, Missouri. The grilled-cheese-and-soup themed restaurant closed on Sunday, January 8.
The Facebook post reads: "Tom+Chee has closed due to circumstances beyond our control. The St. Charles county and St. Louis county territory is for sale. To inquire send a message through this Facebook page. We want to thank all our loyal customers and our fine staff."
The Tom + Chee franchise hails from Cincinnati, where Trew Quackenbush and Corey Ward had the idea for a simple concept: 25-plus varieties of grilled-cheese sandwiches, served with soups and salads. The pair got a boost when they won an investment deal on the popular ABC reality show Shark Tank. Doug Mating secured the rights and opened the first Tom + Chee in the area in 2015. (Efforts to reach Mating for comment were unsuccessful.)
Ward confirmed to SLM this afternoon that the O’Fallon store had closed and that the aforementioned franchise was available. He was bullish on the metro area and confident that a new franchisee would be secured.
One of the concerns in the Facebook comments pertained to unused gift cards. Ward said that because the O’Fallon location was the only unit in the area, the corporate office would (if contacted) refund existing gift cards. The corporate office can be reached at 513-381-8500.
Updated January 10 at 11:10 a.m.:
Reached by phone this morning, Mating echoed some of the comments on Facebook—frustration with the landlord for allowing so many restaurants (some of them full-service) within the same center and frustration with the City of O’Fallon for the lack of parking resulting from same. He also admitted to increasing portion sizes in response to customers' perceived lack of value.
He added that the number of loyalty cards (and redemptions) was growing, but that overall sales were not, citing a 30% drop over same week sales last year. “We had repeat customers,” he lamented, “just not enough of them.”
Comments on social media had been generally positive, especially regarding service. “We busted our butts to make sure that everybody left happy,” Mating said, “but in the end, we closed because we were losing money."
Mating said that he would not be relocating or opening additional stores. “I was happily retired for 10 years before my experience with Tom + Chee,” he added, and that he was looking forward to his second retirement.
