Corky’s BBQ, a Memphis-based barbecue restaurant chain and food company, is changing hands as a new company led by a longtime employee has bought the business.
The barbecue at this east Memphis eatery is cooked in the old-fashioned Southern tradition. The best meats are cooked in barbecue pits on hickory chips and charcoal and cooked slowly. Corky’s cooks pork shoulder for 22 hours and ribs for over 7 hours. Corky’s is also known for its excellent customer service and varied menu. Be sure to check out the barbecue nachos, onion bread, and fudge pie.
This barbecue is so popular that it can even be purchased in the freezers of local grocery stores and is definitely worth putting on your to-do list.
Jimmy Stovall says he started at Corky’s 27 years ago as a college student working at the drive-thru window and eventually worked his way up, becoming the public face of the company through frequent appearances on the QVC home shopping channel and recently becoming the company’s spokesperson and CEO. Now he and his investor partners are buying the company. Why take this step?
To complete the deal, Stovall and the investment partners created a company called BBQVC Food Group LLC. The company name comes from the initials Barbecue and QVC, he said. Stovall said he was joined in the new company by silent partners who wish to remain anonymous.
On Thursday, they completed the purchase of the company from its former owners, an investment group led by Dobbs Equity Partners LLC, which includes John Dobbs Jr, Barry Pelts, son of company founder Don Pelts, and Andy Woodman, Barry Pelts’ brother. -Law.
Corky’s has about 300 employees and several businesses, including four company-owned barbecue restaurants in the Memphis area and four franchised restaurants outside the area, according to a company press release.
It also sells frozen meals, sauces, and condiments to grocery stores nationwide, and operates a foodservice facility that prepares food for e-commerce grocery and QVC sales. According to the company, it also delivers food directly to the consumer.
Stovall said that he does not plan to make any significant changes and that the company will continue to focus on “heritage, quality and consistency.”