As the winner of “America’s Next Great Restaurant” on NBC, Jamawn Woods was promised three locations for Soul Daddy, his proposed chain of healthy soul food restaurants. A month after opening, the locations in Los Angeles and New York City are closing, leaving only the Mall of America branch open. From the press release:
After a careful review of the business model and the performance of the restaurants, we have decided that our best opportunity for Soul Daddy’s success is to focus our efforts on establishing a solid footing in one location, building the brand, and developing the operations from there. We have decided to close our restaurants at Hollywood and Highland in Los Angeles and the South Street Seaport in New York, effective June 14, and focus on developing the best restaurant we can at the Mall of America restaurant in Bloomington, Minnesota. While it has certainly been a difficult decision, we believe this is the best approach as we work towards ongoing success for Soul Daddy. [via Eater]
Wow, what a surprising turn of events. If “The Bachelor” and “America’s Next Top Model” taught me anything, it’s that reality competition winners are destined for success. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go listen to my Lee DeWyze album.
