‘Guns Are Welcome’: One Restaurant Bucked a Trend — Here’s What Happened Next

[QuietDan]

Things that make you go . . . hmmmmmm . . . .

 

‘Guns Are Welcome’: One Restaurant Bucked a Trend — Here’s What Happened Next

 

Jul. 19, 2014 11:23am Zach Noble

 

 

As many restaurants, including Starbucks, Sonic and Chili’s, tell customers to leave their guns at home, one restaurant in East Tennessee took a different approach — and gained quite a few customers.

Sharma Floyd, owner of Shiloh Brew and Chew, adopted a gun-friendly policy after she read about other restaurants banning firearms, WBIR-TV reported.

 

“[The other restaurant] had put up a sign that said ‘No Weapons Allowed’ and they were robbed at gunpoint two days later,” Floyd recounted. “That got me thinking.”

She posted a “Guns are Welcome” sign on the front door of her establishment about a month ago, and since then, she says business has really picked up.

Image source: screengrab via WBIR-TV

“I can honestly say I’ve gotten way more support than the one person who really gave me a lot of grief over it,” said Floyd. â€I have had so many customers take pictures of the sign, ask to meet me in person, and thank me.”

 

Floyd says she keeps some safety precautions in mind — for instance, she won’t serve beer to customers who are carrying firearms — and so far the policy seems to be doing nothing but good things for her business.

 

“There have been as many as eight people in here at one time who I know for a fact had guns,” Floyd said. “And no one would have known it except I know them personally. They’re law abiding, god fearing, Christian people. And that’s what I stand on. That’s what my restaurant is based on. ”

 

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/07/19/guns-are-welcome-one-restaurant-bucks-a-trend-and-sees-dramatic-results/

Edited July 19, 2014 by QuietDan

[reed1285]

Thats awesome. Love seeing stuff like this.

[hipower]

Awesome lady. It would almost be worth a trip just to eat there and join in on the thanks being given her.

[HvBikeWlTravel]

Awesome lady. It would almost be worth a trip just to eat there and join in on the thanks being given her.

I second that motion!

[Dane]

Road trip! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[tnhawk]

I'll look up the address and make it a point to stop there on my next trip in East TN. :usa:

[tnhawk]

1805 E. Lamar Alexander Pkwy

Maryville, TN 37804

 

I've got it on my list to visit next month, but not sure if I'll try the 80 oz steak.

[HvBikeWlTravel]

Kinda convenient if your camping on the Foothills Parkway Camp Ground.

[SingleStack]

ill be giving them some business :up:

[Fivestring63]

I eat there often. Great food.

[tartanphantom]

Submarina Sub Shop in Clarksville has a very similar sign welcoming gun owners.

[10-Ring]

That's my neighborhood but I've never eaten there, I'll certainly be stopping in based on principle alone.

[QuietDan]

Things that make you go . . . hmmmmm . . .

 

. . . an update . . . .

 

Restaurant owner says 'business exploded' since welcoming guns

 

Published July 22, 2014

 

MARYVILLE, Tenn. –  A Tennessee restaurant owner has placed a sign in the window of her business welcoming gun owners -- a move she says has brought in more customers and saved her business from closing.

 

Shiloh Brew and Chew owner Sharma Floyd says put up the sign after seeing a news account of a business being robbed after posting a sign saying guns were not allowed in the building.

 

The Maryville restaurant owner opted to go in the opposite direction. Floyd told WVLT-TV in Knoxville that "business exploded" and the response from customers was overwhelmingly positive.

 

Floyd says she doesn't want her sign to be a challenge to anyone. She's simply standing up for what she believes in.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/07/22/restaurant-owner-says-business-exploded-since-welcoming-guns/?intcmp=latestnews

 

Edited July 22, 2014 by QuietDan

[rugerla1]

Dang! Didn't realize it was 3 hours from here, would love to run by and eat there!

[BigK]

I'm glad it's working out for her. Sadly, if she were big chain with more publicity, she'd have a bunch of unwashed hippies with signs protesting in front of her corporate headquarters. Or worse, a bunch of AR-toting morons trying to ruin it for the rest of us.

[bersaguy]

Sounds like a place I would like to eat if I ever do get up that way. She sounds like a great lady with all her priorities in the right place.................... :up:  :up: ........................jmho

[monkeylizard]

I'll stop for lunch on my next trip to GSMNP. No doubt. :up:

[Guest 04 Rocko Taco]

I'll stop for lunch on my next trip to GSMNP. No doubt. :up:

Yep, headed up there in a month or so, will be stopping in. 

[crashgordan]

excellent. i intend to be a customer.

[otnman]

Ate there today. ..great steak! Had a long conversation with the owner...she's good people...will be going back! Sent from my SCH-I435 using Tapatalk

[McGarrett]

I've never been there but it's in my neck of the woods. I'll have to try it out. 

[Ted S.]

Really cool to see this kind of decision work in the business owner's favor. I may have to grab a beer from her if I'm ever in town. (Don't have a carry permit, yet).

Edited July 27, 2014 by Ted S.

[tnhawk]

Really cool to see this kind of decision work in the business owner's favor. I may have to grab a beer from her if I'm ever in town. (Don't have a carry permit, yet).

Don't go on a Monday.  I drove about 30  miles out of the way to eat there yesterday.  I was told they were not open to the public as they were reserved for a group later that evening. :ugh:

 

I ate lunch there on my way out of Knoxville on that trip and have been back several times since.  It's worth a drive a few miles out of the way to eat there.

Edited October 19, 2014 by tnhawk

[Fivestring63]

She is normally closed on Monday. She opened special just for our gun group. You would've been welcome.

[Someotherguy]

The wife and I drove down and ate there a few weeks ago, boy was it crowded! :ugh: Good food and good atmosphere though... :usa: