How’s this for brand leverage? Tourists still flock by the thousands to shop catalog giant L.L. Bean’s flagship retail store in Freeport, ME. Now Linda Bean, an experienced restaurant operator and entrepreneur deluxe, has opened Linda Bean’s Maine Kitchen & Topside Tavern directly across the street from her grandfather’s iconic store.

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The notion of selling prepaid tickets for high-demand restaurant meals like they do at Next, the new Grant Achatz operation in Chicago, seems like a can’t-lose proposition. It is financially—all the money comes in upfront. But when you factor in the out-of-control aftermarket for tickets, this may not be a system other operators necessarily want to adopt.

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It might not be politically correct to dub your underperforming employees LUZIRS (Lazy, Undisciplined, Zero-Interest, Irresponsible, Rude, Slackers). But there are plenty of LUZIRS in the workforce, and they exact a high toll when one or more works in your restaurant. The key is avoidance: Don’t hire LUZIRS in the first place. Employment attorney Dave Whitlock tells you how to make sure you don’t.

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