December 16, 2024 • 34 mins
Zack Gharib is the current president of Red Roof. He was appointed to the role in April 2024. Gharib has over 20 years of experience in brand management, operations, and franchising. He has worked for companies such as Marriott, Vacasa, LaQuinta by Wyndham, and Highgate Homes.
Gharib's goals include helping franchisees, owners, and team members achieve their full potential. He also wants to provide exceptional guest service and operational excellence. Here's his story
Gharib's goals include helping franchisees, owners, and team members achieve their full potential. He also wants to provide exceptional guest service and operational excellence. Here's his story
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Columbus in Central Ohio have a rich history of companies
being headquartered here, everything from technology, manufacturing, retail, insurance, and more.
But what about the leaders behind these companies? What makes
them tick? How do they get their start? This is
where you get to meet the captain of the ship.
Welcome to CEOs You Should Know and iHeartMedia Columbus Podcast.
Welcome back to our latest episode of CEOs You Should
(00:23):
Know and iHeartMedia Columbus Podcast. I'm your host Boxer and
this week we're talking with the president of Red Roof.
It's an award winning leader in the lodging industry if
you didn't know. Its headquarters is in New Albany, recognize
for creating the creative, innovating upscale economy segment, serving millions
of guests each year. And the portfolio is pretty impressive too,
(00:46):
brands like redroofin and Redroof Plus, also the Hometown Studios
which I'm excited to hear about by Redroof, the Red Collection,
and congratulations by the way to Redroof who hit a
milestone seven one hundred hotels.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Now.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Zachar Reeba is with us, who is the president of
a Red Roof based out of New Albany.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
How you doing, Zach, I am doing fantastics.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Thank you, Boxer.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Good to have you here. I appreciate you being our
guest this week. And by the way, welcome to Columbus.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Yes, it's exciting.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
I actually moved here from Austin, Texas, so not knowing
what Columbus has to offer, I can tell you we
moved in May, my good friend Autumn and our two
little dogs, and coming to Columbus.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
You don't know what you're expecting.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
I've been in Austin for twenty years, and I can
tell you it's been amazing that whether it has been fantastic,
it's a lot better than one hundred and five degrees
in Texas. It's a beautiful city, a lot, a lot
to do, especially when you want to go eat.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
So excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Man, Well, I've always heard that Austin and Columbus, Zach,
are very similar. Maybe not the intense heat that Austin
probably has, but are they pretty similar? Could they be
sister cities outside of the climate factor, I.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Would say of Us would be the little sister of Austin. Absolutely,
it's the most beautiful cities, a lot to do.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Well, you know.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Yeah, but this is home now and this is my city.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Zachar Reeb is with us, who is the president of
Red Roof based in New Walbany. He is this week's
guest on CEOs. You should know your story. Well, we'll
talk about Red Roof and all the successes. Of course
you took it over in April. But your story in
the hospitality industry is a real interesting one because you
were pretty young when the hospitality bug bit you. Wasn't
(02:35):
it I mean it was it was one stay at
a hotel basically, wasn't it.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Yes, So just to give you a background of who
I am. So, I was born in Lebanon, not Lebanon, Indiana,
Levanon the country, the country, Levanon, And you know, growing
up in a humble family. My dad was a full
time dad. My mom raised me and my brother, kept
us out of trouble.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
And then on a I was on the college basketball
team and we went to Aston's, Greece for the first time,
never been. I've never flew before. And that was my
first hotel, hotel stay. And I'll tell you, you know, when
you're a teenager and you go and you have those experiences,
setting of that hotel, that environment, that people. I had
(03:16):
a chance to speak with a general manager multiple times
throughout our stay, and it's just really he had a
profound impact on me as a teenager, and that trip
changed my entire life. It really set me on a
course where I realized, then hospitality is my calling.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
I want to be in hotels.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
And here I am, almost three years later at the
Helm of Red Roofs.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
So it's been exciting from that.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Aspect, pretty impressive, and you have a hack of a
resume which I can't wait to get to. But Zach,
anything specific that just drew you to wanting to do
this specifics? What was it that you loved?
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Yes, so obviously that trip changed it.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
And then I went back to my parents, and of
course I come from a family of a lot of
engineers and doctors and my dad I said, I'm gonna
go be in hotels, Dad, and He's like, Okay, what
are you gonna do? I said, well, we'll see. It's
one thing I know is I'm gonna go to the
greatest country on Earth then study do my master's degree
(04:18):
in the US. And so after doing my bachelor's degree
in business administration at the de Libinese American University. Yeah,
I decided to come here and do my masters in hospitality,
and really just from there it just it kept rolling.
I got recruited out of college by a great company
in the hotel world called White Lodging Services. They have
a lot of Mariatt and healthing products. So I started
(04:41):
a housekeeping manager, you know, and at a at a
Mariott hotel in Austin, Texas. And from there, you know,
I graduated into a director of operations general manager, and
so I spent about six seven years as Mariotte and
then I moved to Wyndham Hotels and I was there
for about thirteen years, ending of the vice president of
(05:01):
Franchise Operations, and then you know, as VP for Highgate
Hotels and today I'm at Red Roof. So once I
decided to take that big leap into coming to the
United States, not knowing what I was the first one
in my entire family to leave the country. Wow, coming here,
it really just kept rolling, and one thing happens on
another and here I am.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
It's been It's been a very exciting journing.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Pretty impressive. I have to say. Zachar Reeb is with us,
who is the president of a Red Roof based out
of New Albany, Zach. Let me ask you. It's interesting
you're overseeing Red Roof because it started here in Columbus
and it's and it stayed here. It had humble beginnings
what back in the early seventies. So for those that
don't know, if you need seventy three, nineteen seventy three,
(05:47):
that's right, tell us a little bit more for those
that don't know, especially those in Columbus that you know,
would be curious to know about the humble beginnings of
Red Roof.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Yeah, I mean the company in nineteen seventy three, that
was a you know, three years before I was born.
So but our founder, Jim Truman, who's who's really iconic
in the in the industry from Ohio, born and raised,
you know, had a lot of impact on the community here.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
He actually built the.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
First hotel in Grove City, Ohio.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
And so that's where our route is, Grove City. And
then we started growing from there. You know, Ohio was
the mothership, if you will.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Yeah, And we grew a.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Lot in Ohio and you know then and then the Midwest,
so we a lot of our distribution is miss Midwest.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
And we grow in the Northeast and today where you
said it earlier.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
We just celebrated seven hundred hotels last month, but since
then we've opened ten more hotels. So we are seven
hundred and ten hotels today, mostly mostly in the United States,
and we have a few in Japan.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Where are you finding right now, in twenty twenty four
or in the future here, where are you finding your
biggest growth areas?
Speaker 3 (07:01):
It continues to be the Northeast and Midwest, just because
people love redroof. I mean a lot of people I
speak now is like, oh, Redroof. I remember when I
the kids getting into station wagon, loading in the minivan
and going on a road trip and say Redroof. So
really a lot of people know us in this region mostly,
but southeast has become also.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
A hot hot spot for us.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
What we one of our strategic initiatives is to grow
the West Coast. We are not I mean, we're there,
but we have a lot of room to grow.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
So that's what we're heading next.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Zach. You know, I think about all the hotels that
are out there, all the hospitality that has been out
there that has been you know, sprouting up in the
past ten twenty years, maybe even more wholly competitive Batman.
And then add the disruptors into it, the airbnbs, for example,
How does that all come into play with the business
(08:01):
model that you have? I mean, is all that a factor?
I mean, are the Airbnb is a disruptor for a
business like yours?
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Absolutely? I mean especially I worked.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
One of the companies I worked with was before red roof,
a couple of companies back is Vekasa, which is the
largest vacation reunnoald management company in North America. They have,
like we had forty thousand homes.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Across the US.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
And so I learned the airbnb business very well. I
initially I used to think airbnb is not a competitive
to hotels back when I was in hotels, and I came,
I'm like, okay, yes it's I mean, some guests preferred
to go to an airbnb, and they become more competitive
to hotels. These days, COVID really put a spotlight on airbnbs.
(08:45):
People wanted to go to houses and condos because they
had kitchens.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Yeah, so they can bring.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Their food and cook and meet with their families and
they have backyards. But now hotels are coming back, you know,
after COVID which put a spotlight or bn B. Now
hotels are really coming back. Guests want to go and
meet other people in the lobbies, yeah, in the at
the breakfast area. They want to see that environment, that
(09:13):
that activity going on. And I think hotels are back.
We're back with a vengeance and it's it's a great
time to be in hotels.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
It's funny my middle son, you'll appreciate him. He's eight
years old. We go to places like Disney. He could
have all of that in his playground. But you know
what he loves. He loves a good hotel room. That's
what he loves. Yes, well, I don't think he's alone.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
It's nice to have housekeeping come and clean your room
every day, actually, you know after a day of the kids,
you know, playing through the room or.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Whatever it is.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
And it's nice to go have your breakfast buffe in
the morning, right if you will, and your coffee made
for you.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
So people love.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
These amenities and these socilies, and I think that will
continue to be the case. Obviously it's been. B will
have will have the people that love Airbnb. Yeah, but
you know people love hotels.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Yes, I'm one of them. Zachariebas with his president of
Red Riffi's this week's guest on CEOs. You should know,
we're very honored to have him. I have an idea
of what it might be, but I don't know for sure.
Out of all your brands, Zach, which one has the
most explosive growth right now? Which one is just on
(10:26):
fire in fuego and just continues to grow.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
That's a great question, Boxer. So so Red Roof, we
have three main brands. We have the Red Roof brand.
We have the brand that we launched in twenty eighteen.
It's our extended state segment brand. It's called Hometown Studios.
And we have our kind of boutique boutique brand where
you can put your own name on the building. You
(10:51):
can have your own brand standard obviously with a higher quality.
It serves a little bit more upper scale guests, but
it's called the Red Collection small boutique, a little bit
more on.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
The upscale upscale side.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
So those are our three main brands. Now we also
have dual brands, so you can put a Red Roof
and a Hometown Studios and the same building. Shirt Lobby
and a lot of brands are doing this as well,
but you can have a transient building which is a
red roof and an extend they say building next door
to it or in the same building actually, which are
(11:26):
hometown studios or vice versa.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
You can have red collection and red roof.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
But those are our brands and one thing. And when
you look at the hotel industry overall over the last
especially a few years, consolidation has been happening at a
big level. So you know, the windows of the world,
the choice, the myriads, there's a lot of brands coming in.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
They're they're acquiring other brands.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
So each one of them had twenty twenty one, twenty
two brands, some twenty five brands, right, and so we
have three and we are very proud to say that
we're going to continue focusing on three. We know the formula.
It's a winning formula. You said earlier. We are fifty
one year rich history, so we know what. We know
(12:09):
what we're doing with those brands. It's proven successful. Our
our owners love it.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Now when you.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Look at the explosive growth that's happening, extended state segment
has really been growing at a fast space. So hometown
studios and the need for hometown studios and the you know,
attraction of it is really is really a key. So
we're growing that brand at a fast space right.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Now, Zach, your hometown brand, that that's the extended stage
you mentioned. So that does that include the opportunity to
go to Walmart buy your own food and cook it.
Is that the kind of thing you're getting.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Or absolutely it's you know, it's it's has a little kitchenette,
it's got the fridge, the microwaves, a sink, you know,
the cook top, and so you can you can go
other than stay a month or two. I mean with
with remote work after COVID, a lot of people didn't
want to stay home, so they started going there, traveling
(13:10):
and staying in different cities so they can work and
explore the cities, especially after being cooped up in the
house for a year or six months during that time.
So that really led to the explosiveness of the extended
state segment. Yeah, and our hometown studios offer that the
great amenities for the guests, but also it's a great
(13:33):
it's very attractive for our franchisees and owners right because
operating those is not at a high level. So once
you build it, the guest comms.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
They have everything they need.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
You don't need a lot of employees, you don't need
all things, you know, just it runs itself.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Yeah, with that brand, Zach would because I see them
and I think, I wonder, I wonder what what groups
or demographics are using those. Are you getting construction companies
that are that are coming in and renting out rooms
too for extended stay?
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Absolutely?
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Really a lot of the business is, like you said,
based business, construction, traveling, nurses, people that want long time,
long terime stays that can use the kitchenette. And it's
a comfortable environment, right, Yeah, there's not a whole lot
of there's not a whole lot of people in and
out every day and a lot of check ins and
checkouts and hooplats.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
People have the quiet times and they can come.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
And work and stay there. It feels like home away
from home in a way. That's why we call it
hometown studios, Zach.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
The Truman family sold their their business back. I think
in the nineties, correct me if I'm wrong, after that
happened that they I don't think they franchised until the nineties, right,
is that right?
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Or correct someone?
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Someone in the nineties is when the model started changing.
It was all owned and managed by the Truman the Truman's,
as you said. And then with the franchise model sarted
happening because the hotel industry overall start.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Having a franchise modelka, and.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Because it's great, right, it helps you know, at that time,
there's we had hundreds of hotels.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
The name was already a powerful name. People loved it.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
So a lot of a lot of investors in orders said, hey,
would like to build a hotel or buy a hotel
and put red roof on it because it helps us, right,
it helps people come to our hotels. So and that's exciting.
So that's how the franchise model started. And then when
you have a good brand, a good name, a lot
of people want to want to invest in it and
(15:35):
put put the name on on their building.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
Right now we are fully a franchise model, Okay. So
all our seven hundred plus hotels that are franchise, their
franchise is owned by hard working individuals from all from
all parts of the world.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
And so no no corporate owned hotels anymore. They're they're
all franchise.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
That is correct, Okay, yes, that's correct.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
So we you know, we uh you know, obviously as
the company evolved. You know, everything we do in Tennal
now is to really support our franchise ease, give them
the best training, give them the best Q quality inspections,
the best tools and such.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
And brand standards.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Yeah, so they can deliver a great guest experience at
the end of the day.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Yeah, Zach, forgive me, I'm not comparing your business to pizza,
but there is a certain pizza company in town that
it seems to be going that Donatos.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Do you know that I knew it. I knew it
well so.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
So I was talking to Tom Krass a while ago.
We were talking about franchise versus corporate stores, and I
simply asked, do would you rather focus on on franchising
than corporate own because of scaleability? Is it is it
easier and faster to scale and have a bigger scale
and growth by franchising versus corporate own stores or.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
You know, it's it's both.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
It depends on really your your strategic goals for the
for the organization. I think I think faster growth happened
through franchises, right because you can have I mean, I
was at the Lodging conference in Phoenix Arizona, which was
one hundred and six degrees by the way, just this
last week. You know, so no thanks, yes, me neither.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
I have to be there. But but you know, I me.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Was one of one of the investors out of out
of Florida that really, I mean, they're interested in building
twenty to thirty hotels with us right now.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
So we're in.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
We're in in a good conversation. We're having good conversations
with that group. And that's just one example. So on
the franchise side, you can have a lot more people
coming in and building or buying hotels and franchising with
us versus if you want to go build your own
or buy your own, that's obviously you know, slower in
that process. I think the key that we have to
(17:55):
keep to keep in mind is we're in the business
of hospital So the most important thing for us is
really delivering a great guest experience, which you know, we're
working hard internally to make sure we're elevating that experience.
There's a lot of work behind the scenes. And so
when we have when we have a lot of growth
(18:17):
and a lot of franchise hotels coming, then our internal
resources become bigger so we can do better training, so
we can do more marketing right to reach more guests
and offer more discounts and deals, and also have a
hotel portfolio way beyond Saven Hotels. So if someone that
(18:38):
loves Red Roof and Ohio and Columbus, Ohio, they can
go to Order Colorado or whatever it is and they
find a Red Roof there and say, Okay, you know
what I'm familiar with us, I'm a Red.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Roof guest here.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Now I can go to Colorado say Redroof, or I
can go to Tamakola, California and say a Red Roof.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
So all that.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
Really helps the guests and our franchise is in big ways.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Second Reb is with us. He's the president of Red
Roof based out of my New Albany, and he's this
week's guest on CEO's You Should Know and iHeart Media
Columbus podcast. Zach, If we could, if you wouldn't mind
pulling back the curtain for a sec, Let's say myself,
my friends Tom and Rob, maybe Heather. We we want
to pool our resources together and do a franchise of
(19:23):
your biggest brand, Red Roof. Would you mind telling us
or revealing what what would that cost in today's world?
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
Uh So, we just had our annual brand conference at
Mohegan's Sun Casino and Connecticut, which was a great brand conference,
by the way, and one of the things that we
did is we rolled out of our new prototype. It's
a beautiful building, really amazing and the best spot about it,
which when I asked the team to develop this new
(19:51):
prototype is I want to I wanted to make sure
that the cost makes sense. Okay, right, So when you
look at economy segment, you know, building in an economy
segment is not uh like when you have land you
want to build economy it has to make sense financially.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
So we just.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Opened a newly constructed from the ground Hometown Studios in Tampa, Florida,
and we asked the uh the the construction management company,
the roof Management and Roof Construction to give us the
breakdown of the cost of exactly how much it costs
them to build it from A to Z, including the
(20:29):
land and you're permitting and all that all that stuff
until the day they open.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
So they gave us the breakdown line by line and.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
So we know the cost and we took that. We
took the interior of that hotel. Put it's also the
same kind of interior of a red roof, and then
we just put a really amazing exterior on it that's
very appealing.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
A lot of people are like, wow, this is a
beautiful building.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
So when you want to build that that that building
right now, it's about eighty four thousand to about one
hundred and five thousand.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Paer key, which is pare room.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Okay, so if you have if you have one hundred rooms,
it may cost you between eight point five to ten
point five million dollars, which when you look at the
cost of construction of a lot of different hotels and
different brands, you will know this is a pretty good deal.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Wow does it? But zech I'm assuming it must vary
a little bit because if you were to open something
in La or southern California land, there is going to
be a lot different than even at Tampa, right.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Yes, And that's why we do the range from eighty
four to one oh five. So when you go to
West Coast, it's going to cost you towards the higher
end of the range. But you know, if we go
to states you know, such as Nebraska or you know,
states that cost less you know, on the land, then
you'll you'll be somewhere in the eighties, maybe low nineties.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Yeah, yeah, Which when it comes to I know you
talked about the West Coast earlier, Zach, as far as
you know where you'd like more growth to be. Can
I ask is there are there zeroed in laser focused
areas that you'd really like to try and tap into.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Absolutely every single part of the West Coast everything, but.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
You know, any specific cities.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
But you know it's people love traveling to California. I mean,
you know, some people may not like California, but it's
a it's a city that attracts a lot of a
lot of customers, yeah, a lot of guests travelers. So
California is a big, you know, obviously big target. But
even when you look at Oregon and Washington across the
coastline the Pacific Ocean, those are great cities you want
(22:41):
to So the big cities are obviously first our targets.
You know, the Seattle's, Portland's, anything in the Bay area.
La San Diego is great, Las Vegas, Nevada is also
a great target for us. And when you look at Colorado,
would like to be in a lot of the ski
areas and the areas of Colorado. Yeah, because it's just
(23:02):
it attracts people year round. They want to be there
in the summer to high and do mountains things, and
they want to be there in the winter so that
they can ski. So it's it's really good for our
guests and our our owners as well.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
Yeah, Zach, would you that one specifically? Would you turn
that into a lodge if it's near an area where
you could ski? I mean their thoughts of that.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
We're open to all kinds of exterior looks as long
as the branch centers on the interior really have the
feel of I'm a I'm a red Roof, which, like
I said, we're evaluating all round standards, our interior, interior
things so that we can create that consistent experience for
our guests going forward, and there's a lot of work
happening behind the scenes to make sure.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
We deliver that.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Yeah, Zach, you know we've already talked about how competitive
this industry is, the hospitality industry. What what's the ultimate
goal for Red Roof? What what is it? It's doesn't
sound like it's to be the biggest, Uh. It sounds
more like hey to be the best maybe the best
customer experience.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
But what is it?
Speaker 1 (24:05):
I don't want to put words in your mouth.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
Yeah no, look I have I have a mantras that
I've lived by and I continue to live by all
my life, which is people first. And so I think
when you when I when I personally look at a
red roof, what really means a lot to me is
ten years from now, twenty years from now, the employees
are building red roof, continue to build red roof now
(24:27):
and built it before they say wow, I was proud
to be part of this company, or I continue to
be proud of this company. And then and then from
a from an owner and a franchise e community perspective,
you know when when I hear the buzz, because you know,
the buzz goes when I hear the buzz in the community,
in the Fransians community, that oh man, I have a
(24:48):
red roof. I'm proud of it. You know, it's it's
a great brand. And I want to build more. Or
I want to have my son when when he grows up,
build more, or my daughter or my niece bringing more,
or so that part also is very important. And then
last but not least, how do our guests feel?
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Right?
Speaker 3 (25:08):
When the guests go as their kids and their or
their partners or whatever it is, and stay at a
drove and they take pictures and they take selfies and
go back and they're looking at yearbooks and pictures from
ten to fifteen years ago, they say, oh, man, that
was a great memorable trip. Remember that, you know, son
or whatever it is. So I think overall for me
(25:30):
is what are people going to say about the brand five, ten, fifteen,
twenty years from now. It's how you make people think yeah, yeah,
And that's a great powerful thing. And trust me, when
you're listening, when you're actively listening, you know how people feel.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
Yeah, you're helping them make memories. And I will say
from the lettering too, the logo itself, would you say
probably one of the big successes that you have is
the nostalgia. I mean do you hear that from customers?
I mean you kind of pointed it out earlier in
this conversation about you know, jumping in the station wagon
and staying at the red roof. Do you hear stories
(26:07):
like that.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Without a doubt?
Speaker 3 (26:08):
I mean I got emails from guests, you know, telling
me that thank you, thank you on mentioning names, and
thank you for staying here.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
You made our day.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
That's you know, when you're at the helm of the company,
you see the good, the bad, and the ugly. And
I can tell you that it's it's amazing how good
I see because we're making a difference in people's lives
in different ways, so and and and that's the goal
is to continue delivering that so that nostalgia is real.
(26:41):
I have nostalgia. I just joined the brand five six
years ago. And I'll tell you a story during our
mediear meeting. I had just started at Red Roof when
I was there for about three weeks, and the company
had a medieal meeting for all our entire corporate.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Team to come to Columbus.
Speaker 3 (26:58):
We stayed at the Nationwide Hotel and Conference Center, and
so everybody came to Columbus.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
It was my first time meeting everybody. So and then
when we wanted to kick.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
Off the meeting, and then our vice president of Training
and Development got on stage.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
He's kicking off the meeting.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
His name is Steve Woodward and he's you know, he
took the microphoneses like are you ready? I'm like ready
for what And so when I say read you say,
and the entire room said rufe right, very loudly, and
I got goosebumps.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
At that moment, I said, I got goosebumps. And so
I you know, now I.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
Have nostalgia about the brand because I feel that passion
of our team members and they care about the brand.
And then when I see it grow even more, so
I hope that one day we can create that also
for every guest that comes to our Roof Hotels.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Yeah, and that's the vision I have for the future.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Is that how your meetings are. By the way, at
the corporate office every day, you.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
Know I should I should have brought my team members
so you can ask them that question. I can't answer that,
you know, I can't answer that. But but you know,
people first is my mantra and it's always you know.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
I was speaking with someone a couple of weeks ago
and she's asked me, She's like, if you have to
give to give advice to, you know, somebody, what would
be I said, The first thing is make sure you're
taking care of your people, because when you do that,
I think everything falls into place. There's a lot, a
lot to do out there, but you want to surround
yourself with great people and they need to see that
(28:37):
passion and care.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
That truly is Zach. I know we have to wrap up.
You've got other things. You know that you're doing today
is awesome. Well, I appreciate your time today. What your
your day in the life. What's it like like from
time the time you get up to the time you
actually go to bed.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
Yeah, you know, Uh, life balance is really important, I
think for everybody, you know, for me personally, I really
enjoy the integration of it all. You know, I work
like I mean, I can be sipping at margarita at
the beach in can Kun and I got an email.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
I would be happy to respond.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
It's just it's part of who I am and I
enjoy it because I think when you love what you do,
you do it with passion.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
You know there's value of it.
Speaker 3 (29:22):
Really, it all becomes part of your life. With that
being said, you know, as a leader of the organization,
life for it. Balance is very important for me to
create for the team because you know, you have families
team members that you know they have small children at
the house, or they have sick parents they have to
take care of. So giving them that flexibility and that
(29:43):
that environment to feel secure and stable while they are
doing what they need to do is important. So when
I got up in the morning, I'm an earlier riser.
I'm a five am kind of guy. You know, if
it's six am. My girlfriend asked me, are you okay?
So I you know, I'm at five am, and you
know I got up.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
Do have my.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
Coffee two cups of coffee a day, and that's that's
good for me and I really that's my time between
five and eight a theory, when I when I go
to the office, that's my time to really catch up
and make sure I have my you know, everything that
I need to accomplish for the day and the reflections
I meditate. I go to the gym as well. So
that's my morning. And when it comes to when I
(30:25):
get to the office, it's a will wind, but it's
it's a fun will win because we're working towards improving
every aspect of operation organization on a daily basis. So
having these meetings with different departments strategizing of how can
we make things better and streamline operations in a sense.
So really so having these meetings, making sure I make
(30:48):
calls with our owners, reading some of the emails and
some of the reviews I get from from our guests.
You know, all that ties in and before you know it,
it's five five pm. And that's not what I leave,
by the way, you know, it stretches beyond that. But
but then I get home and I like to just relax,
maybe have a glass of wine if every once in
(31:11):
a while, and uh, you know, also smoke a cigar
there you go in a while and uh you know,
bed bite them bite ten pm.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
By the way, what's your favorite wine? What's what's your good?
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Naomi?
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (31:23):
I like Miomi Pean and noir. I don't know why.
I just developed a taste for it, so I've I've
always loved Miaomi.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
How about cigars?
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Uh Monte Cristo, Rocky Patel and uh koheba?
Speaker 1 (31:36):
All right, yes, I may have some of the I
like cigars. Yeah, okay, now I know you'd never probably
guess that, but yeah, I love the tobacco pipe poo
too every once in a while. So Zach, this has
been so awesome to have you here. Congratulations on all
your success. Have you also gotten to an Ohio State
(31:57):
football game?
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Yet?
Speaker 1 (31:58):
I have not sure you've heard about it.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
Of course, I'm a yes, you know, this may piss
off a lot of your audience, But I come from Austin, Texas,
and I went to Texas Tech University for my master's degree,
but I lived in Austin's I'm also a Texas fan.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
You tee Texas fans.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
And then my kids are going to Texas A and
M next year.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
So my daughter's actually she went to Arkansas the first
year and now she's doing a year of missionary work.
So she's in Nashville doing her training and then she's
going to be shipped off to some country around the
world to continue her work there. Yes, I'm very proud
of her, very proud of her. And then when she
gets back, they're both going to go to Texas A
(32:42):
and M. So I've got Texas Tech, me, Texas A
and M, my kids, and then Texas because I lived
in Austin twenty years. But I'll tell you what I
am looking forward to go to going to an Ohio
State University game. I've been in buying to tailgate a
couple of times, didn't have the chance to go, but
definitely going to do it.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
I think Michigan maybe the one.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Yeah, I would agree with the game against Michigan is
and you never know the way ut is going. I
mean you might see the Longhorns of the buck Eyes
in some type of playoff game or you have to
get champions.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
You have to get older in Michigan first.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, thanks thanks for rubbing that in.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
But a lot of our corporate employees, obviously the Ohio
State Yeah yeah, fans, a lot of not only fans,
but graduates and alumni.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
So it's just a.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
Great Ohio State University culture at our corporate office.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
By the way, Zach, are you liking it here? I
mean not that you're not gonna say no, I hate it,
but I mean are you are you growing into feeling
comfortable here in Columbus?
Speaker 3 (33:43):
Ask me after February okay, because I'm not sure about know.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
Well, no one wants to be here in February.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
But we moved here in May.
Speaker 3 (33:51):
So we we passed all the Texas here that one
on five, one on six weather.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
It's been beautiful.
Speaker 3 (33:57):
Yeah, everything, you know, everything here is green and like
I said, I mean, we like to go out and
dine and enjoy different different experiences.
Speaker 2 (34:06):
My good friend and I.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
So there's a blessed threat to do from that aspect,
and just the people everybody around I've met here is
very nice and welcoming, so it's been really an amazing
six months.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Well, we'd love to show you around some more. If
there's anything we can do for you, let us know,
including your own show or podcast. We can make that
happen too.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Okay, I'm going to take you up on that seriously.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Zach Garib, who is the president of Red Riff, this
week's guest on CEOs you Should Know. Thanks for your time, Zach.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
This was my first time at the radio studio, so
it's been amazing.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
Let's give you a tour now, let's do it.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
Thank You.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
CEOs you Should Know is hosted and produced by Brandon Boxer,
a production of iHeartMedia, Columbus
Columbus in Central Ohio have a rich history of companies
being headquartered here, everything from technology, manufacturing, retail, insurance, and more.
But what about the leaders behind these companies? What makes
them tick? How do they get their start? This is
where you get to meet the captain of the ship.
Welcome to CEOs You Should Know and iHeartMedia Columbus Podcast.
Welcome back to our latest episode of CEOs You Should
(00:23):
Know and iHeartMedia Columbus Podcast. I'm your host Boxer and
this week we're talking with the president of Red Roof.
It's an award winning leader in the lodging industry if
you didn't know. Its headquarters is in New Albany, recognize
for creating the creative, innovating upscale economy segment, serving millions
of guests each year. And the portfolio is pretty impressive too,
(00:46):
brands like redroofin and Redroof Plus, also the Hometown Studios
which I'm excited to hear about by Redroof, the Red Collection,
and congratulations by the way to Redroof who hit a
milestone seven one hundred hotels.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Now.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Zachar Reeba is with us, who is the president of
a Red Roof based out of New Albany.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
How you doing, Zach, I am doing fantastics.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Thank you, Boxer.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Good to have you here. I appreciate you being our
guest this week. And by the way, welcome to Columbus.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Yes, it's exciting.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
I actually moved here from Austin, Texas, so not knowing
what Columbus has to offer, I can tell you we
moved in May, my good friend Autumn and our two
little dogs, and coming to Columbus.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
You don't know what you're expecting.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
I've been in Austin for twenty years, and I can
tell you it's been amazing that whether it has been fantastic,
it's a lot better than one hundred and five degrees
in Texas. It's a beautiful city, a lot, a lot
to do, especially when you want to go eat.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
So excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Man, Well, I've always heard that Austin and Columbus, Zach,
are very similar. Maybe not the intense heat that Austin
probably has, but are they pretty similar? Could they be
sister cities outside of the climate factor, I.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Would say of Us would be the little sister of Austin. Absolutely,
it's the most beautiful cities, a lot to do.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Well, you know.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Yeah, but this is home now and this is my city.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Zachar Reeb is with us, who is the president of
Red Roof based in New Walbany. He is this week's
guest on CEOs. You should know your story. Well, we'll
talk about Red Roof and all the successes. Of course
you took it over in April. But your story in
the hospitality industry is a real interesting one because you
were pretty young when the hospitality bug bit you. Wasn't
(02:35):
it I mean it was it was one stay at
a hotel basically, wasn't it.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Yes, So just to give you a background of who
I am. So, I was born in Lebanon, not Lebanon, Indiana,
Levanon the country, the country, Levanon, And you know, growing
up in a humble family. My dad was a full
time dad. My mom raised me and my brother, kept
us out of trouble.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
And then on a I was on the college basketball
team and we went to Aston's, Greece for the first time,
never been. I've never flew before. And that was my
first hotel, hotel stay. And I'll tell you, you know, when
you're a teenager and you go and you have those experiences,
setting of that hotel, that environment, that people. I had
(03:16):
a chance to speak with a general manager multiple times
throughout our stay, and it's just really he had a
profound impact on me as a teenager, and that trip
changed my entire life. It really set me on a
course where I realized, then hospitality is my calling.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
I want to be in hotels.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
And here I am, almost three years later at the
Helm of Red Roofs.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
So it's been exciting from that.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Aspect, pretty impressive, and you have a hack of a
resume which I can't wait to get to. But Zach,
anything specific that just drew you to wanting to do
this specifics? What was it that you loved?
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Yes, so obviously that trip changed it.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
And then I went back to my parents, and of
course I come from a family of a lot of
engineers and doctors and my dad I said, I'm gonna
go be in hotels, Dad, and He's like, Okay, what
are you gonna do? I said, well, we'll see. It's
one thing I know is I'm gonna go to the
greatest country on Earth then study do my master's degree
(04:18):
in the US. And so after doing my bachelor's degree
in business administration at the de Libinese American University. Yeah,
I decided to come here and do my masters in hospitality,
and really just from there it just it kept rolling.
I got recruited out of college by a great company
in the hotel world called White Lodging Services. They have
a lot of Mariatt and healthing products. So I started
(04:41):
a housekeeping manager, you know, and at a at a
Mariott hotel in Austin, Texas. And from there, you know,
I graduated into a director of operations general manager, and
so I spent about six seven years as Mariotte and
then I moved to Wyndham Hotels and I was there
for about thirteen years, ending of the vice president of
(05:01):
Franchise Operations, and then you know, as VP for Highgate
Hotels and today I'm at Red Roof. So once I
decided to take that big leap into coming to the
United States, not knowing what I was the first one
in my entire family to leave the country. Wow, coming here,
it really just kept rolling, and one thing happens on
another and here I am.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
It's been It's been a very exciting journing.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Pretty impressive. I have to say. Zachar Reeb is with us,
who is the president of a Red Roof based out
of New Albany, Zach. Let me ask you. It's interesting
you're overseeing Red Roof because it started here in Columbus
and it's and it stayed here. It had humble beginnings
what back in the early seventies. So for those that
don't know, if you need seventy three, nineteen seventy three,
(05:47):
that's right, tell us a little bit more for those
that don't know, especially those in Columbus that you know,
would be curious to know about the humble beginnings of
Red Roof.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Yeah, I mean the company in nineteen seventy three, that
was a you know, three years before I was born.
So but our founder, Jim Truman, who's who's really iconic
in the in the industry from Ohio, born and raised,
you know, had a lot of impact on the community here.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
He actually built the.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
First hotel in Grove City, Ohio.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
And so that's where our route is, Grove City. And
then we started growing from there. You know, Ohio was
the mothership, if you will.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Yeah, And we grew a.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Lot in Ohio and you know then and then the Midwest,
so we a lot of our distribution is miss Midwest.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
And we grow in the Northeast and today where you
said it earlier.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
We just celebrated seven hundred hotels last month, but since
then we've opened ten more hotels. So we are seven
hundred and ten hotels today, mostly mostly in the United States,
and we have a few in Japan.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Where are you finding right now, in twenty twenty four
or in the future here, where are you finding your
biggest growth areas?
Speaker 3 (07:01):
It continues to be the Northeast and Midwest, just because
people love redroof. I mean a lot of people I
speak now is like, oh, Redroof. I remember when I
the kids getting into station wagon, loading in the minivan
and going on a road trip and say Redroof. So
really a lot of people know us in this region mostly,
but southeast has become also.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
A hot hot spot for us.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
What we one of our strategic initiatives is to grow
the West Coast. We are not I mean, we're there,
but we have a lot of room to grow.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
So that's what we're heading next.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Zach. You know, I think about all the hotels that
are out there, all the hospitality that has been out
there that has been you know, sprouting up in the
past ten twenty years, maybe even more wholly competitive Batman.
And then add the disruptors into it, the airbnbs, for example,
How does that all come into play with the business
(08:01):
model that you have? I mean, is all that a factor?
I mean, are the Airbnb is a disruptor for a
business like yours?
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Absolutely? I mean especially I worked.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
One of the companies I worked with was before red roof,
a couple of companies back is Vekasa, which is the
largest vacation reunnoald management company in North America. They have,
like we had forty thousand homes.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Across the US.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
And so I learned the airbnb business very well. I
initially I used to think airbnb is not a competitive
to hotels back when I was in hotels, and I came,
I'm like, okay, yes it's I mean, some guests preferred
to go to an airbnb, and they become more competitive
to hotels. These days, COVID really put a spotlight on airbnbs.
(08:45):
People wanted to go to houses and condos because they
had kitchens.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Yeah, so they can bring.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Their food and cook and meet with their families and
they have backyards. But now hotels are coming back, you know,
after COVID which put a spotlight or bn B. Now
hotels are really coming back. Guests want to go and
meet other people in the lobbies, yeah, in the at
the breakfast area. They want to see that environment, that
(09:13):
that activity going on. And I think hotels are back.
We're back with a vengeance and it's it's a great
time to be in hotels.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
It's funny my middle son, you'll appreciate him. He's eight
years old. We go to places like Disney. He could
have all of that in his playground. But you know
what he loves. He loves a good hotel room. That's
what he loves. Yes, well, I don't think he's alone.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
It's nice to have housekeeping come and clean your room
every day, actually, you know after a day of the kids,
you know, playing through the room or.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Whatever it is.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
And it's nice to go have your breakfast buffe in
the morning, right if you will, and your coffee made
for you.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
So people love.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
These amenities and these socilies, and I think that will
continue to be the case. Obviously it's been. B will
have will have the people that love Airbnb. Yeah, but
you know people love hotels.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Yes, I'm one of them. Zachariebas with his president of
Red Riffi's this week's guest on CEOs. You should know,
we're very honored to have him. I have an idea
of what it might be, but I don't know for sure.
Out of all your brands, Zach, which one has the
most explosive growth right now? Which one is just on
(10:26):
fire in fuego and just continues to grow.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
That's a great question, Boxer. So so Red Roof, we
have three main brands. We have the Red Roof brand.
We have the brand that we launched in twenty eighteen.
It's our extended state segment brand. It's called Hometown Studios.
And we have our kind of boutique boutique brand where
you can put your own name on the building. You
(10:51):
can have your own brand standard obviously with a higher quality.
It serves a little bit more upper scale guests, but
it's called the Red Collection small boutique, a little bit
more on.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
The upscale upscale side.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
So those are our three main brands. Now we also
have dual brands, so you can put a Red Roof
and a Hometown Studios and the same building. Shirt Lobby
and a lot of brands are doing this as well,
but you can have a transient building which is a
red roof and an extend they say building next door
to it or in the same building actually, which are
(11:26):
hometown studios or vice versa.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
You can have red collection and red roof.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
But those are our brands and one thing. And when
you look at the hotel industry overall over the last
especially a few years, consolidation has been happening at a
big level. So you know, the windows of the world,
the choice, the myriads, there's a lot of brands coming in.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
They're they're acquiring other brands.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
So each one of them had twenty twenty one, twenty
two brands, some twenty five brands, right, and so we
have three and we are very proud to say that
we're going to continue focusing on three. We know the formula.
It's a winning formula. You said earlier. We are fifty
one year rich history, so we know what. We know
(12:09):
what we're doing with those brands. It's proven successful. Our
our owners love it.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Now when you.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Look at the explosive growth that's happening, extended state segment
has really been growing at a fast space. So hometown
studios and the need for hometown studios and the you know,
attraction of it is really is really a key. So
we're growing that brand at a fast space right.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Now, Zach, your hometown brand, that that's the extended stage
you mentioned. So that does that include the opportunity to
go to Walmart buy your own food and cook it.
Is that the kind of thing you're getting.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Or absolutely it's you know, it's it's has a little kitchenette,
it's got the fridge, the microwaves, a sink, you know,
the cook top, and so you can you can go
other than stay a month or two. I mean with
with remote work after COVID, a lot of people didn't
want to stay home, so they started going there, traveling
(13:10):
and staying in different cities so they can work and
explore the cities, especially after being cooped up in the
house for a year or six months during that time.
So that really led to the explosiveness of the extended
state segment. Yeah, and our hometown studios offer that the
great amenities for the guests, but also it's a great
(13:33):
it's very attractive for our franchisees and owners right because
operating those is not at a high level. So once
you build it, the guest comms.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
They have everything they need.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
You don't need a lot of employees, you don't need
all things, you know, just it runs itself.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Yeah, with that brand, Zach would because I see them
and I think, I wonder, I wonder what what groups
or demographics are using those. Are you getting construction companies
that are that are coming in and renting out rooms
too for extended stay?
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Absolutely?
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Really a lot of the business is, like you said,
based business, construction, traveling, nurses, people that want long time,
long terime stays that can use the kitchenette. And it's
a comfortable environment, right, Yeah, there's not a whole lot
of there's not a whole lot of people in and
out every day and a lot of check ins and
checkouts and hooplats.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
People have the quiet times and they can come.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
And work and stay there. It feels like home away
from home in a way. That's why we call it
hometown studios, Zach.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
The Truman family sold their their business back. I think
in the nineties, correct me if I'm wrong, after that
happened that they I don't think they franchised until the nineties, right,
is that right?
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Or correct someone?
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Someone in the nineties is when the model started changing.
It was all owned and managed by the Truman the Truman's,
as you said. And then with the franchise model sarted
happening because the hotel industry overall start.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Having a franchise modelka, and.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Because it's great, right, it helps you know, at that time,
there's we had hundreds of hotels.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
The name was already a powerful name. People loved it.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
So a lot of a lot of investors in orders said, hey,
would like to build a hotel or buy a hotel
and put red roof on it because it helps us, right,
it helps people come to our hotels. So and that's exciting.
So that's how the franchise model started. And then when
you have a good brand, a good name, a lot
of people want to want to invest in it and
(15:35):
put put the name on on their building.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
Right now we are fully a franchise model, Okay. So
all our seven hundred plus hotels that are franchise, their
franchise is owned by hard working individuals from all from
all parts of the world.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
And so no no corporate owned hotels anymore. They're they're
all franchise.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
That is correct, Okay, yes, that's correct.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
So we you know, we uh you know, obviously as
the company evolved. You know, everything we do in Tennal
now is to really support our franchise ease, give them
the best training, give them the best Q quality inspections,
the best tools and such.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
And brand standards.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Yeah, so they can deliver a great guest experience at
the end of the day.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Yeah, Zach, forgive me, I'm not comparing your business to pizza,
but there is a certain pizza company in town that
it seems to be going that Donatos.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Do you know that I knew it. I knew it
well so.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
So I was talking to Tom Krass a while ago.
We were talking about franchise versus corporate stores, and I
simply asked, do would you rather focus on on franchising
than corporate own because of scaleability? Is it is it
easier and faster to scale and have a bigger scale
and growth by franchising versus corporate own stores or.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
You know, it's it's both.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
It depends on really your your strategic goals for the
for the organization. I think I think faster growth happened
through franchises, right because you can have I mean, I
was at the Lodging conference in Phoenix Arizona, which was
one hundred and six degrees by the way, just this
last week. You know, so no thanks, yes, me neither.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
I have to be there. But but you know, I me.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Was one of one of the investors out of out
of Florida that really, I mean, they're interested in building
twenty to thirty hotels with us right now.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
So we're in.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
We're in in a good conversation. We're having good conversations
with that group. And that's just one example. So on
the franchise side, you can have a lot more people
coming in and building or buying hotels and franchising with
us versus if you want to go build your own
or buy your own, that's obviously you know, slower in
that process. I think the key that we have to
(17:55):
keep to keep in mind is we're in the business
of hospital So the most important thing for us is
really delivering a great guest experience, which you know, we're
working hard internally to make sure we're elevating that experience.
There's a lot of work behind the scenes. And so
when we have when we have a lot of growth
(18:17):
and a lot of franchise hotels coming, then our internal
resources become bigger so we can do better training, so
we can do more marketing right to reach more guests
and offer more discounts and deals, and also have a
hotel portfolio way beyond Saven Hotels. So if someone that
(18:38):
loves Red Roof and Ohio and Columbus, Ohio, they can
go to Order Colorado or whatever it is and they
find a Red Roof there and say, Okay, you know
what I'm familiar with us, I'm a Red.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Roof guest here.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Now I can go to Colorado say Redroof, or I
can go to Tamakola, California and say a Red Roof.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
So all that.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
Really helps the guests and our franchise is in big ways.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Second Reb is with us. He's the president of Red
Roof based out of my New Albany, and he's this
week's guest on CEO's You Should Know and iHeart Media
Columbus podcast. Zach, If we could, if you wouldn't mind
pulling back the curtain for a sec, Let's say myself,
my friends Tom and Rob, maybe Heather. We we want
to pool our resources together and do a franchise of
(19:23):
your biggest brand, Red Roof. Would you mind telling us
or revealing what what would that cost in today's world?
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
Uh So, we just had our annual brand conference at
Mohegan's Sun Casino and Connecticut, which was a great brand conference,
by the way, and one of the things that we
did is we rolled out of our new prototype. It's
a beautiful building, really amazing and the best spot about it,
which when I asked the team to develop this new
(19:51):
prototype is I want to I wanted to make sure
that the cost makes sense. Okay, right, So when you
look at economy segment, you know, building in an economy
segment is not uh like when you have land you
want to build economy it has to make sense financially.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
So we just.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Opened a newly constructed from the ground Hometown Studios in Tampa, Florida,
and we asked the uh the the construction management company,
the roof Management and Roof Construction to give us the
breakdown of the cost of exactly how much it costs
them to build it from A to Z, including the
(20:29):
land and you're permitting and all that all that stuff
until the day they open.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
So they gave us the breakdown line by line and.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
So we know the cost and we took that. We
took the interior of that hotel. Put it's also the
same kind of interior of a red roof, and then
we just put a really amazing exterior on it that's
very appealing.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
A lot of people are like, wow, this is a
beautiful building.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
So when you want to build that that that building
right now, it's about eighty four thousand to about one
hundred and five thousand.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Paer key, which is pare room.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Okay, so if you have if you have one hundred rooms,
it may cost you between eight point five to ten
point five million dollars, which when you look at the
cost of construction of a lot of different hotels and
different brands, you will know this is a pretty good deal.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Wow does it? But zech I'm assuming it must vary
a little bit because if you were to open something
in La or southern California land, there is going to
be a lot different than even at Tampa, right.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Yes, And that's why we do the range from eighty
four to one oh five. So when you go to
West Coast, it's going to cost you towards the higher
end of the range. But you know, if we go
to states you know, such as Nebraska or you know,
states that cost less you know, on the land, then
you'll you'll be somewhere in the eighties, maybe low nineties.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Yeah, yeah, Which when it comes to I know you
talked about the West Coast earlier, Zach, as far as
you know where you'd like more growth to be. Can
I ask is there are there zeroed in laser focused
areas that you'd really like to try and tap into.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Absolutely every single part of the West Coast everything, but.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
You know, any specific cities.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
But you know it's people love traveling to California. I mean,
you know, some people may not like California, but it's
a it's a city that attracts a lot of a
lot of customers, yeah, a lot of guests travelers. So
California is a big, you know, obviously big target. But
even when you look at Oregon and Washington across the
coastline the Pacific Ocean, those are great cities you want
(22:41):
to So the big cities are obviously first our targets.
You know, the Seattle's, Portland's, anything in the Bay area.
La San Diego is great, Las Vegas, Nevada is also
a great target for us. And when you look at Colorado,
would like to be in a lot of the ski
areas and the areas of Colorado. Yeah, because it's just
(23:02):
it attracts people year round. They want to be there
in the summer to high and do mountains things, and
they want to be there in the winter so that
they can ski. So it's it's really good for our
guests and our our owners as well.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
Yeah, Zach, would you that one specifically? Would you turn
that into a lodge if it's near an area where
you could ski? I mean their thoughts of that.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
We're open to all kinds of exterior looks as long
as the branch centers on the interior really have the
feel of I'm a I'm a red Roof, which, like
I said, we're evaluating all round standards, our interior, interior
things so that we can create that consistent experience for
our guests going forward, and there's a lot of work
happening behind the scenes to make sure.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
We deliver that.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Yeah, Zach, you know we've already talked about how competitive
this industry is, the hospitality industry. What what's the ultimate
goal for Red Roof? What what is it? It's doesn't
sound like it's to be the biggest, Uh. It sounds
more like hey to be the best maybe the best
customer experience.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
But what is it?
Speaker 1 (24:05):
I don't want to put words in your mouth.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
Yeah no, look I have I have a mantras that
I've lived by and I continue to live by all
my life, which is people first. And so I think
when you when I when I personally look at a
red roof, what really means a lot to me is
ten years from now, twenty years from now, the employees
are building red roof, continue to build red roof now
(24:27):
and built it before they say wow, I was proud
to be part of this company, or I continue to
be proud of this company. And then and then from
a from an owner and a franchise e community perspective,
you know when when I hear the buzz, because you know,
the buzz goes when I hear the buzz in the community,
in the Fransians community, that oh man, I have a
(24:48):
red roof. I'm proud of it. You know, it's it's
a great brand. And I want to build more. Or
I want to have my son when when he grows up,
build more, or my daughter or my niece bringing more,
or so that part also is very important. And then
last but not least, how do our guests feel?
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Right?
Speaker 3 (25:08):
When the guests go as their kids and their or
their partners or whatever it is, and stay at a
drove and they take pictures and they take selfies and
go back and they're looking at yearbooks and pictures from
ten to fifteen years ago, they say, oh, man, that
was a great memorable trip. Remember that, you know, son
or whatever it is. So I think overall for me
(25:30):
is what are people going to say about the brand five, ten, fifteen,
twenty years from now. It's how you make people think yeah, yeah,
And that's a great powerful thing. And trust me, when
you're listening, when you're actively listening, you know how people feel.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
Yeah, you're helping them make memories. And I will say
from the lettering too, the logo itself, would you say
probably one of the big successes that you have is
the nostalgia. I mean do you hear that from customers?
I mean you kind of pointed it out earlier in
this conversation about you know, jumping in the station wagon
and staying at the red roof. Do you hear stories
(26:07):
like that.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Without a doubt?
Speaker 3 (26:08):
I mean I got emails from guests, you know, telling
me that thank you, thank you on mentioning names, and
thank you for staying here.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
You made our day.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
That's you know, when you're at the helm of the company,
you see the good, the bad, and the ugly. And
I can tell you that it's it's amazing how good
I see because we're making a difference in people's lives
in different ways, so and and and that's the goal
is to continue delivering that so that nostalgia is real.
(26:41):
I have nostalgia. I just joined the brand five six
years ago. And I'll tell you a story during our
mediear meeting. I had just started at Red Roof when
I was there for about three weeks, and the company
had a medieal meeting for all our entire corporate.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Team to come to Columbus.
Speaker 3 (26:58):
We stayed at the Nationwide Hotel and Conference Center, and
so everybody came to Columbus.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
It was my first time meeting everybody. So and then
when we wanted to kick.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
Off the meeting, and then our vice president of Training
and Development got on stage.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
He's kicking off the meeting.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
His name is Steve Woodward and he's you know, he
took the microphoneses like are you ready? I'm like ready
for what And so when I say read you say,
and the entire room said rufe right, very loudly, and
I got goosebumps.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
At that moment, I said, I got goosebumps. And so
I you know, now I.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
Have nostalgia about the brand because I feel that passion
of our team members and they care about the brand.
And then when I see it grow even more, so
I hope that one day we can create that also
for every guest that comes to our Roof Hotels.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Yeah, and that's the vision I have for the future.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Is that how your meetings are. By the way, at
the corporate office every day, you.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
Know I should I should have brought my team members
so you can ask them that question. I can't answer that,
you know, I can't answer that. But but you know,
people first is my mantra and it's always you know.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
I was speaking with someone a couple of weeks ago
and she's asked me, She's like, if you have to
give to give advice to, you know, somebody, what would
be I said, The first thing is make sure you're
taking care of your people, because when you do that,
I think everything falls into place. There's a lot, a
lot to do out there, but you want to surround
yourself with great people and they need to see that
(28:37):
passion and care.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
That truly is Zach. I know we have to wrap up.
You've got other things. You know that you're doing today
is awesome. Well, I appreciate your time today. What your
your day in the life. What's it like like from
time the time you get up to the time you
actually go to bed.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
Yeah, you know, Uh, life balance is really important, I
think for everybody, you know, for me personally, I really
enjoy the integration of it all. You know, I work
like I mean, I can be sipping at margarita at
the beach in can Kun and I got an email.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
I would be happy to respond.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
It's just it's part of who I am and I
enjoy it because I think when you love what you do,
you do it with passion.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
You know there's value of it.
Speaker 3 (29:22):
Really, it all becomes part of your life. With that
being said, you know, as a leader of the organization,
life for it. Balance is very important for me to
create for the team because you know, you have families
team members that you know they have small children at
the house, or they have sick parents they have to
take care of. So giving them that flexibility and that
(29:43):
that environment to feel secure and stable while they are
doing what they need to do is important. So when
I got up in the morning, I'm an earlier riser.
I'm a five am kind of guy. You know, if
it's six am. My girlfriend asked me, are you okay?
So I you know, I'm at five am, and you
know I got up.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
Do have my.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
Coffee two cups of coffee a day, and that's that's
good for me and I really that's my time between
five and eight a theory, when I when I go
to the office, that's my time to really catch up
and make sure I have my you know, everything that
I need to accomplish for the day and the reflections
I meditate. I go to the gym as well. So
that's my morning. And when it comes to when I
(30:25):
get to the office, it's a will wind, but it's
it's a fun will win because we're working towards improving
every aspect of operation organization on a daily basis. So
having these meetings with different departments strategizing of how can
we make things better and streamline operations in a sense.
So really so having these meetings, making sure I make
(30:48):
calls with our owners, reading some of the emails and
some of the reviews I get from from our guests.
You know, all that ties in and before you know it,
it's five five pm. And that's not what I leave,
by the way, you know, it stretches beyond that. But
but then I get home and I like to just relax,
maybe have a glass of wine if every once in
(31:11):
a while, and uh, you know, also smoke a cigar
there you go in a while and uh you know,
bed bite them bite ten pm.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
By the way, what's your favorite wine? What's what's your good?
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Naomi?
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (31:23):
I like Miomi Pean and noir. I don't know why.
I just developed a taste for it, so I've I've
always loved Miaomi.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
How about cigars?
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Uh Monte Cristo, Rocky Patel and uh koheba?
Speaker 1 (31:36):
All right, yes, I may have some of the I
like cigars. Yeah, okay, now I know you'd never probably
guess that, but yeah, I love the tobacco pipe poo
too every once in a while. So Zach, this has
been so awesome to have you here. Congratulations on all
your success. Have you also gotten to an Ohio State
(31:57):
football game?
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Yet?
Speaker 1 (31:58):
I have not sure you've heard about it.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
Of course, I'm a yes, you know, this may piss
off a lot of your audience, But I come from Austin, Texas,
and I went to Texas Tech University for my master's degree,
but I lived in Austin's I'm also a Texas fan.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
You tee Texas fans.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
And then my kids are going to Texas A and
M next year.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
So my daughter's actually she went to Arkansas the first
year and now she's doing a year of missionary work.
So she's in Nashville doing her training and then she's
going to be shipped off to some country around the
world to continue her work there. Yes, I'm very proud
of her, very proud of her. And then when she
gets back, they're both going to go to Texas A
(32:42):
and M. So I've got Texas Tech, me, Texas A
and M, my kids, and then Texas because I lived
in Austin twenty years. But I'll tell you what I
am looking forward to go to going to an Ohio
State University game. I've been in buying to tailgate a
couple of times, didn't have the chance to go, but
definitely going to do it.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
I think Michigan maybe the one.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Yeah, I would agree with the game against Michigan is
and you never know the way ut is going. I
mean you might see the Longhorns of the buck Eyes
in some type of playoff game or you have to
get champions.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
You have to get older in Michigan first.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, thanks thanks for rubbing that in.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
But a lot of our corporate employees, obviously the Ohio
State Yeah yeah, fans, a lot of not only fans,
but graduates and alumni.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
So it's just a.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
Great Ohio State University culture at our corporate office.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
By the way, Zach, are you liking it here? I
mean not that you're not gonna say no, I hate it,
but I mean are you are you growing into feeling
comfortable here in Columbus?
Speaker 3 (33:43):
Ask me after February okay, because I'm not sure about know.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
Well, no one wants to be here in February.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
But we moved here in May.
Speaker 3 (33:51):
So we we passed all the Texas here that one
on five, one on six weather.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
It's been beautiful.
Speaker 3 (33:57):
Yeah, everything, you know, everything here is green and like
I said, I mean, we like to go out and
dine and enjoy different different experiences.
Speaker 2 (34:06):
My good friend and I.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
So there's a blessed threat to do from that aspect,
and just the people everybody around I've met here is
very nice and welcoming, so it's been really an amazing
six months.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Well, we'd love to show you around some more. If
there's anything we can do for you, let us know,
including your own show or podcast. We can make that
happen too.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Okay, I'm going to take you up on that seriously.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Zach Garib, who is the president of Red Riff, this
week's guest on CEOs you Should Know. Thanks for your time, Zach.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
This was my first time at the radio studio, so
it's been amazing.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
Let's give you a tour now, let's do it.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
Thank You.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
CEOs you Should Know is hosted and produced by Brandon Boxer,
a production of iHeartMedia, Columbus
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