FSR Spotlights Our Clarksville Comeback Story

When Kristen Winters took over a struggling Rock N’ Roll Sushi location in Clarksville, Tennessee, she found three problems working against her: undisciplined ordering, weak ties to the local community, and a restaurant that wasn’t putting its best face forward. FSR Magazine sat down with her to talk about how she turned it around.

On the ordering side, Winters leaned on her PMIX (product mix) data to stop guessing and start budgeting with real numbers. On the community side, she made local engagement part of the rebrand from day one — sponsoring events, showing up with food donations — rather than waiting until the restaurant was fully profitable to start giving back. And on restaurant upkeep, she treated the guest experience as starting the moment someone pulls into the parking lot, not when they walk through the door.

Culture was the throughline in all of it. Winters built a team where people don’t have to hide their tattoos or fit a corporate mold to belong — and credits that culture, plus staying power on her staff, for driving the numbers that matter: the location’s Google rating has climbed to 4.4 since she took over.

Her advice for other franchisees navigating a turnaround: invest in effective communication and workplace culture before anything else, and don’t be afraid to lean on your network of fellow owners when things get hard.

Read the full article at FSR Magazine: https://www.fsrmagazine.com/feature/how-a-rock-n-roll-sushi-franchisee-led-a-culture-driven-turnaround/