The Wrightsville Beach Chamber of Commerce held its monthly luncheon on Wednesday, Feb. 19, and heard from Mandy Caulder, owner of Dinner a Go-Go on Oleander Drive.
Caulder said she started the business after realizing that with two young children, she didn’t know what to do for dinner. After hearing about meal assembly kitchens, she looked for one in Wilmington and, finding none, decided to buy a franchise and open My Girlfriend’s Kitchen.
After eight months, she said, she found out that the parent company was going to be sold. It took several months for the deal to go through, and she decided to keep the business open independently rather than joining on with the new company. She wasn’t happy with the food quality of the new franchise, and it would have restricted her freedom to offer pre-assembled meals rather than having each customer create a meal from provided ingredients.
Business slowed during the summer months, Caulder said, and then was hit hard by the onset of the recession in October. “I went days without a single customer coming through the door,” she said.
After coming to terms with reducing her payroll, she and her husband have turned the business around and have a solid base of regular customers.
“Now I’m poised for success in a way I never would have been without these challenges,” Caulder said.
