Last Friday night’s edition of the CBS TV show Undercover Boss featured a Delaware resident who runs Buffets Inc., the company that operates the Old Country Buffet in Christiana. The full episode can be viewed HERE.
Anthony Wedo took the job about a year ago. As the show noted, he lives in Greenville, Del. with his family and has an apartment in South Carolina. He came up with an elaborate disguise that was described as being akin to an aging rocker. (Photo courtesy of Buffets Inc.)
The company is based in South Carolina, with other operations in Minnesota.
Buffets currently operates 344 restaurants in 35 states, comprised of what are described as 334 steak-buffet restaurants and 10 Tahoe Joe’s Famous Steakhouse restaurants. The Tahoe Joe’s restaurants are located in central and northern California. The restaurants are principally operated under the Old Country Buffet, HomeTown Buffet and Ryan’s brands.
Buffets employs approximately 18,000. As was noted in the show, the company has struggled through two bankruptcies, but recently reported stronger sales. The company has introduced grill to order steak and added other items to bring back customers.
The show followed its typical formula, with Wedo, finding an employee with a bad attitude and working with others staffers coping with outdated systems and personal financial challenges. Wedo, after struggling with a cash register system, committed to spending $3 million on a new system.
Wedo, at one point, threatened to quit his undercover assignment, but returned to work with the manager on turning around the abrasive dishwasher.
Wedo is a veteran of the restaurant industry who put together the regional franchise for Boston Chicken in the Mid-Atlantic region, later selling it to Boston Market. He also served as president of a company whose brands included Einstein’s and Manhattan Bagels and also worked as a as an executive at KFC. He is a graduate of Penn State University and worked as a turnaround specialist for restaurants prior to taking the Buffets’ post
