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Back in 2004, a year after he and his wife had launched Simply Crepes in Schoen Place, Pierre Heroux was already dreaming big.
Inspired by the crepes made by his grandmother back in Quebec and spun into an entire menu of culinary delights by his wife, Karen, Simply Crepes wasn’t just going to be a one-off, canal side dining destination in Pittsford.
Pierre Heroux knew they had found a niche, and he saw no reason why exponential growth in Rochester and beyond wouldn’t be part of the near future.
When interviewed for a profile in SimonBusiness, an in-house publication for the Simon Business School at the University of Rochester, he said they expected to have 50 locations within seven years.
The prediction turned out to be a little off the mark. OK, way off the mark. Simply Crepes is just now putting the finishing touches on eatery No. 4, at 1229 Bay Rd. in Penfield, with christening planned for October.
But the family-owned business has been immensely successful, not just in Pittsford, but also at its Canandaigua location (in operation since 2007) as well as Raleigh, N.C. (launched in 2011). And big expansion may not be all that far off.
Simply Crepes has perfected the polished casual and progressively traditional dining experience, with 70 to 75 percent of the menu served in, on or with a crepe.
The Webster/Penfield location, in the works since the spring of 2018, is finally coming to fruition. But there’s a twist; Simply Crepes 2.0, if you will.
For one, the location is the largest yet, 3,300 square feet (Pittsford is 1,500 and Canandaigua and Raleigh are around 3,000). The color scheme is still heavy on blue, but it’s a different shade of blue. There’s a country house feel with barn doors and environmentally friendly fireplaces as part of the décor.
This will also be the first franchise location with a full bar.
The original Simply Crepes was designed by Hanlon Architects interior designer Annette Basinger in collaboration with Karen Heroux. Nearly 20 years later, Basinger worked with Nicole Heroux-Williams, the company’s director of marketing and the new steward of the brand, to create the latest look.
“We’ve maintained the color of the brand, the feel of the brand,” Pierre Heroux said.
That brand is paramount to the business.
“We want to maintain that essence of special,” Nicole Heroux-Williams said.
That’s one reason expanding the franchise footprint has been methodical.
“The food is the show,” Pierre Heroux said. “You want to deliver excellent food consistently, along with some solid hospitality.”
To do so, there must be a culture within the company, a desire of every employee — and they’ll be up to 130 when Webster/Penfield opens —to meet the standards of expectations.
“Wegmans is very good because they have a culture,” Pierre Heroux said. “They train their people and invest in their people.
“Someone said to me not long after we opened ‘You’re successful.’ But we weren’t successful then. I look at an individual like Red Fedele, who at that time had been in business 20 some years (with Red Fedele’s Brook House in Greece). When you’re still cranking it out and your customers love what you’re doing for all those years, that is success.”
Less than a year away from the 20th anniversary, there’s no denying Simply Crepes is successful. And while the Webster/Penfield location is the first new franchise in 11 years, it’s really just the start of expansion.
The foundation for growth was put in place in recent years with additions to the management team. Aaron Bolton was hired as corporate executive chef, Gregg Galuska was named director of operations and Ben Empey has the dual role of director of sales and culture.
“We invested in a strong management team,” Nicole Heroux-Williams said.
While Karen Heroux has stepped away from day-to-day duties as CEO, Pierre continues to oversee operations and their daughters head different departments (Nicole in marketing, Michelle Conlon as director of human resources).
“I could not do this is it wasn’t for their massive contributions,” Pierre Heroux said.
The Buffalo and Syracuse markets are being explored as possible sites for new locations. So, too, as the Raleigh and Cary, N.C., market.
“Those are the two states where we know how to do business,” Pierre Heroux said.
They’re again thinking big, too. They hired a Dallas-based consulting firm to determine where else a Simply Crepes customer base might exist.
“We wanted to know who our customers are and where they might exist in large numbers,” Pierre Heroux said. “The consultant identified 465 suburban locations. And that doesn’t include urban centers.”
Thus, when Pierre Heroux talks expansion now, it’s a lot closer to reality. But the Heroux family isn’t going to tackle rapid franchising alone.
“I’m looking for a partner that can take us to that level, where capital and development resources are not an issue,” Pierre Heroux said.
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