Zoup! franchise owners George and Debra Keefe are preparing for opening day on Dec. 13 .
By Jeremy C. Fox, Town Correspondent
Cheeseburger soup? Buffalo chicken soup? Soup versions of macaroni and cheese, chicken pot pie, even Sicilian pizza? Downtown office workers will have a chance to try them all when Zoup! opens Dec. 13.
The new fast-casual restaurant going up at 3 Center Plaza, just across Cambridge Street from Government Center, will serve more traditional varieties, too — clam chowder, French onion, mulligatawny — as well as sandwiches and salads.
George and Debra Keefe, both 55, of North Easton, Mass., are the owners of the new Zoup! franchise, the first in Massachusetts, and they think that once people try the soups, they’ll like them.
“We encourage taste-testing,” George Keefe said.
Debra Keefe has tried the lobster bisque at almost every restaurant in Boston, she said, and she thinks the Zoup! version — the chain’s second-biggest seller — is the cream of the crop.
“Ours is going to be way better than anyone else’s,” she said.
Zoup! will serve a rotating selection of soups, with 10 options each day. Lobster bisque and the chain’s other most popular soup, chicken pot pie, will be on the menu every day, while the others will change.
In addition to such rich offerings, they will serve vegetarian, non-dairy and gluten-free soups for those with dietary restrictions. Nutrition information will be available both in the store and online, where busy workers from City Hall and the Financial District can also pre-order their soups so they’re ready for pick-up.
After working for many years managing other people’s supermarkets, pharmacies and clothing stores, George Keefe was ready to be his own boss. When he turned 55, he turned to his wife and said, “I’ve always wanted my own place. If I don’t do it now, I’m never going to do it.”
They investigated a number of franchises, but Zoup! stood out for them because it offered something different both in its product and philosophy.
“The quality, the product, the concept — it’s just everything we envisioned in wanting to own a business,” Debra Keefe said.
“I said if I lived in Michigan [where the company is based], I’d want to work for them,” her husband said.
Eric Ersher, co-founder and managing partner of Zoup!, said the chain grew out what he saw as a gap in the market. He was in the spice business and started making soups for some of his restaurant clients, which gave him insight into the status of soup as a second-class citizen of the dinner table.
“It seemed as though for many of those restaurateurs, soup was sort of an afterthought, a way to reduce their food cost, or they were using soup that was similar to the stuff in the red cans that we probably grew up with,” Ersher said. “It was clear that really good soup was hard to find.”
In talking to people about soup, he also found that many people associated soup with happy childhood memories and warm, comforting feelings. He wanted to provide that comfort while offering a superior product. He set out to make soup a serious contender.
“One of our challenges when we first opened was to elevate soup to meal status,” he said. “And I’m pleased that folks have certainly accepted a bowl of soup as a great option for lunch.”
Founded in 1997, Zoup! now has 20 franchises, with an additional six company-owned locations. About half are in Michigan. The only other location in New England is in Glastonbury, Conn.
George Keefe said that for him, what’s most important are the people he works with and how they interact with each other and with customers.
“I can teach you how to run a register, but I can’t teach you how to smile,” he said.
Still, the Keefes know that it will take long hours, hard labor and sacrifices to make their new venture succeed. After many years figuring out how to keep customers happy — starting with the Dunkin Donuts where they both worked together when they were high school sweethearts — they know better than to expect things to be easy.
“We’re not naïve to the ways of retail,” he said.
Taking this leap was cause for some worry to Debra Keefe at first, but now that the space is nearly ready to open, she’s more at ease.
“I’m excited. Now that I see it all put together, I really am excited,” she said. “It takes away the apprehension.”
