THE SHACK FUND · CATCH & NOT RELEASE
Every shirt puts a little money toward the real thing.
Catch & Not Release isn't open. I want it to be. Here's how the merch helps get it there, where the money stands, and what happens if it never opens.
THE RACE
Four restaurants. One goes first.
I have four restaurant ideas, and I can only open one at a time. So they're racing.
Every merch order for a restaurant adds one Founding Crew member to its team. The restaurant with the most crew is the one I try to open first. If any of the others hasn't opened within eight years of its first dollar, its fund either rolls into the leader or goes to culinary school scholarships.
- --Catch & Not ReleaseYOU ARE HERE0
Nobody's on the board yet. The first order takes the lead.
One order, one crew member, no matter what's in the box. A hat and a hoodie count the same.
HOW IT WORKS
Buy a shirt, move the needle.
When you buy something with the Catch & Not Release name on it, the profit from that sale goes into The Shack Fund. That money is set aside for one thing: opening Catch & Not Release.
I track every dollar that goes in and every dollar that comes out in the ledger on this page. If I spend from the fund, you'll see what it went to.
Could it take five years? It could. It could take longer. I'm building it the slow way, one shirt at a time. That's the intent, and I'm putting it in writing here.
WHERE IT STANDS
The Shack Fund, in plain numbers.
INTO THE FUND
$0
SPENT FROM IT
$0
IN THE FUND NOW
$0
No goal posted. I'd rather show you what's real than a big number that may change. I update this by hand as sales come in.
THE LEDGER
Nothing in yet. The fund starts with the first order.
THE FLIGHT PLAN
From idea to opening day.
- The idea and the nameDONE
- The websiteDONE
- First merchUP NEXT
- Pick the town
- Business plan and the real numbers
- Find the spot on the water
- Build it out
- Opening day
THE MERCH
Wear it before you can eat here.
The first Catch & Not Release pieces will be sold through American Coastal Living, the shop that carries all my brands. When they're ready, they'll show up here.
First T-shirt design (coming soon)
COMING SOON
Second T-shirt design (coming soon)
COMING SOON
Hat (coming soon)
COMING SOON
THE HARD QUESTION
What if it never opens?
Fair question. Plenty of restaurant dreams stay dreams, and I'd rather answer it now than dodge it later.
If Catch & Not Release hasn't opened within eight years of the first dollar going into its fund, I'll do one of two things with what's in it. If another restaurant in the race is open or on its way, the money can roll into that one. If not, I'll donate it to an organization that gives scholarships to culinary school students.
Either way, it stays in the restaurant world, where it was meant to go. I'd call that paying it forward.
Nothing here is guaranteed but my word. I'm giving it.
THE FINE PRINT
- Buying merch is a purchase, not an investment. You don't get a share of the restaurant, a return, or a refund if it doesn't open.
- It isn't a donation either, and it isn't tax-deductible. You get the shirt. The restaurant gets the profit.
- Founding Crew is for bragging rights. It doesn't come with free food or any promise of one.
- The funds are run by me through Flying And Dining, LLC.
NOTES FROM THE DOCK
Not reviews. There's nothing to review yet.
Leave a note. Tell me what you'd order first, where you think it should open, or about a crab shack you still miss. I read every one before it goes up.
No notes yet. Be the first one at the table.
See you on the dock.
Jeff