Although it opened only five months ago, on Nov. 11, the Melting Pot in Rogers performs consistently among the top 10 of the locations in the chain, according to co-owners Candice Hickerson and her mother, Diana Bonnett.
“We were in the top five Valentine’s week,” Hickerson said. “We’ve been in the top four the first couple of months we were open,” she said. “Right now we’re consistently operating in the top 10 of the restaurant. We’re doing very well.”
That, Bonnett said, is because of “die-hard Melting Pot fans,” some of whom drove from Tulsa to the Rogers location, at 5102 W. Pauline Whitaker Parkway, and the first in Arkansas. “We have a large group of people who were so excited, because they just love the Melting Pot, to have it local.”
The chain, founded in Maitland, Florida, in 1975 and now based in Tampa, has more than 95 locations in 31 U.S. states and Canada.
There have been challenges, however. One of which is helping servers understand that the restaurant concept requires skills beyond taking orders and putting plates on a table.
The Melting Pot, whose focus is on fondue of various kinds, is an interactive experience, with servers helping guests prepare the multicourse menu tableside. “Most servers, because we are the first one in Arkansas, are used to just dropping plates,” Hickerson said. “At the Melting Pot, it’s a dining experience. Your server is at your table making the cheese in front of you, and that’s a five-minute interaction.
“Our servers, it’s been a huge learning curve for them, because they only have a max of three tables at a time,” she said, adding, “You have to be social” because “you’re part of the experience.”
At the restaurant, Hickerson serves as chief operating officer, Bonnett as chief administrative officer and Hickerson’s husband, Chad, as CEO.
The family came to Arkansas from California a few years ago. In California, the mother-daughter duo owned and operated residential care facilities for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. They are in the process of transitioning out of that business. Chad Hickerson’s background is in psychiatric hospital administration.
The family knew they wanted to leave California but didn’t know they wanted to live in Arkansas until they visited a friend living in northwest Arkansas. “My husband and I came out and visited him and fell in love,” Hickerson said.
Over the last three years, 17 family members have now relocated to Arkansas. The Hickersons and Bonnett live on 5 acres near Beaver Lake, and Candice’s brother lives on 5 acres next door. “We have a large family compound,” Hickerson said.
The Hickersons and Bonnett knew they wanted to have a family business and were already fans of the Melting Pot concept, having patronized the chain, particularly the Sacramento location, for 25 years. “It’s a regular place that we go to celebrate events or just a good, long evening out,” Bonnett said. “We love the brand.”
The Rogers Melting Pot is 9,600 SF and seats 301, about 200 inside and 100 on a covered, temperature-controlled patio. It employs about 85 workers.
Switching from operating care facilities to owning and running a restaurant has brought challenges in addition to those of familiarizing servers with the Melting Pot concept. Among them is “getting the right people and your core group of employees that you can trust,” Bonnett said.
In addition, the pair said, are “how quickly things happen” and the challenges of dealing with sales tax, tips, credit card payments, restaurant software and inventory.
The Hickersons and Bonnett have invested $1.8 million in their Melting Pot.
Hickerson wants the community to know that the restaurant is family-owned. “While we are a franchise, we live here, we buy here, our kids go to school here. I think that’s really important. And the other thing [to know] is that I wouldn’t want to own a business with anybody else but my mom.”
