Fred Bush walked through the bankrupt pizzeria and up to the counter where a massive oven idled in the pre-lunch darkness. He opened the door and peered inside.
“It’s the stone on which you put the pizza,” he explains. “You have to check that the stones are not broken.”
As Bush inspected the Inland Empire restaurant’s equipment — a blender, meat slicer and more — the owner explained why he plans to close the pizzeria.
Like so many other Southland restaurateurs who have struggled in recent years, his business had been hit by a series of problems: Delivery service commissions were cutting into revenue, diners were spending less, good employees were leaving for higher-paying jobs and the landlord of the outdoor mall where he had operated since 2019 wouldn’t renegotiate the lease.
The man, who asked that his name and that of his restaurant not be identified for privacy reasons, said he worked seven days a week, handling everything from cooking to deliveries, but was not making a profit.
“It’s completely normal,” Bush told the owner. “You realize that no matter what I do, I’m not going to make any money.”
Reconditioned blenders are available for sale at Fred Bush & Associates in Corona.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
The owner was grateful that Bush understood.
“It’s a tough business, really tough,” he intoned as he left.
A restaurant closing is almost always seen as bad news. But not necessarily from Bush’s perspective. He sells used equipment and furniture, buying stoves, sinks, shelving and more from owners who have thrown in the towel. His Corona-based firm, Fred Bush & Associates, meticulously restores the items and sells them at deep retail prices. Recent clients include Cobi’s in Santa Monica, Ca’ Del Sole in Toluca Lake and the Italian restaurants Toscana and Divino in Brentwood. He has also worked with chains such as Starbucks and Rubio’s Coastal Grill.
Rubio’s Costal Grill, a Fred Bush client, announced in June that it would close nearly 50 locations.
(Zoe Cranfill/Los Angeles Times)
These days, the drought in the restaurant landscape is, in some ways, a blessing for Bush: His 26,000-square-foot showroom is bursting with merchandise.
“We get a call a day from a restaurant that’s closing,” said Bush, 76, explaining that he ran out of room in his warehouse. “I never turn down anything good.”
Bush, who has been in the business for more than 40 years, prefers to focus on the positive when he makes harrowing visits to bankrupt restaurant owners: The merchandise he buys and later resells helps people pursue their entrepreneurial dreams.
“It’s a tough business because you’re catching people at the bottom, but you’re in it to make money,” said Kevin Lanouette of KL Kitchen Supplies, a supplier of new restaurant equipment based in Canyon Lake, Calif.[Bush’s] “Bedside manners have to be good. It’s not something I look forward to.”
Fred Bush’s Corona showroom is full of used catering equipment.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Bush said that when he meets with homeowners, they are often in good spirits, happy that their ordeal is over. And he enjoys that aspect of his job. But the Inland Empire pizza guy didn’t seem comfortable. Still, Bush was adamant that the man would soon find peace. Bush eventually offered $4,500 for most of his equipment, about 30 items in all.
He estimated that the items cost the owner at least $75,000. Once restored, Bush put them up for sale at prices totaling about $15,000.
By mid-July, the man had not accepted, Bush said, and no one was answering the phone at the pizzeria.
“Almost brand new”
Bush’s company is a vital part of Southern California’s restaurant industry: People in the business said they don’t know of any other used equipment dealers on its scale.
He grew up in West LA and got into the business in 1976, working with a partner to buy used restaurant equipment at auction and resell it. But the partnership was unstable, and he went out on his own in 1982.
Two years later, Bush was commissioned by the organizers of the Los Angeles Olympics to dismantle five temporary kitchens that had been built in the area to feed the competing athletes. He purchased the equipment and was able to resell it quickly, partly because it was in pristine condition.
“This was all two weeks ago,” Bush said.
Not everything that comes through his warehouse doors always arrives this clean. In fact, much of the equipment is dirty. But Bush prides himself on reconditioning his goods so they look “nearly new.”
Many items are being sold for less than half their retail price and come with a 30-day warranty. Bush, for example, recently listed a Montague County convection oven for $9,500, well below its original price of about $21,000. He said he paid about $2,500 for it.
On a recent tour of his company’s facilities, Bush pointed out the booth where equipment is repainted and a sheet metal shop where stainless steel parts are fabricated. All the components are disassembled, cleaned and reassembled as needed. A Hobart mixer ready for delivery to a customer gleamed next to a row of the same model that had not yet been repaired. They were covered in grease and grime.
“We’re completely remanufacturing everything,” Bush said.
Restored ranges in the Fred Bush showroom.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Joaquin Caldera, vice president of Fred Bush & Associates, has been with the company since 1991 and is a big reason it can breathe new life into almost any piece of broken equipment, Bush said. The walls of Caldera’s office are covered with dozens of clear bags filled with pieces of equipment he usually works on, a testament to Bush’s boast that Caldera “can fix anything.”
George Qualls, operations manager for a barbecue restaurant company, recently worked with Bush to outfit a handful of the chain’s locations in San Diego County.
But the first time Qualls saw the pitiful state of the equipment Bush had salvaged — particularly a filthy charcoal grill — he was shocked.
“He showed it to me and gave me a price, and I said, ‘Fred, really?’” Qualls recalled. “And he said, ‘No, no, it’s not going to look like that.’ I went back four days later, and it looked like a brand new piece of equipment. It was really crazy.”
Qualls bought the charcoal grill for $550, about a quarter of what it would have cost new.
Dedicated to guests
Bush lives and breathes restaurants: he invests in them and is friends with the owners.
He even furnished his two adult children’s homes with used restaurant furniture. They benefited, he says, when Starbucks closed its stores about a decade ago and had to get rid of chairs, coffee tables and sofas.
“My kids wanted to see what we bought at Starbucks and put it in their home,” he said. “Most of the products… were [like] new.”
Bush is often on the road, visiting places that are closing so he can assess their equipment. He logs a lot of miles: In two days in June, he drove from Upland to Brentwood to Lake Forest. Some of these visits are purely joyful: Bush also buys equipment when restaurants are remodeling or expanding.
He nevertheless regularly visits establishments in difficulty, sometimes even before their closure is announced. He can therefore know the fate of a restaurant before its employees or the public.
Indeed, Bush said that days before the Rubio’s chain announced in June that it was closing 48 restaurants in California, he visited a site at the company’s request to assess what kind of equipment it would buy.
He now has a few chairs from the chain for sale. They are available for $20 each.
Dreaming in a falling market
When visiting Bush’s showroom in Corona, a handful of potential customers walked down manicured aisles filled with equipment largely made of stainless steel gleaming under fluorescent lights: refrigerators, convection ovens, steam kettles, fryers, griddles, blast freezers, ice makers, ranges, grills, blenders, coffee makers, dishes, utensils, tables, chairs, and more.
Fred Bush has been in the used restaurant equipment business for over 40 years.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Bush pointed to a huge piece of decorative wood he had bought at a Japanese restaurant on South Coast Plaza. He had had trouble selling it. “It probably weighs 500 pounds,” he said.
He then met Sam Harris, co-owner of Sherman’s Deli & Bakery in Palm Springs. He had recently purchased an ice cream machine from Bush and had returned to test the ovens.
“I always come here and leave with something,” Harris said.
In a tough economy, loyal customers, especially those with existing restaurants, are essential. While the current restaurant climate has helped Bush increase his inventory, it also means fewer new restaurants are opening. And that means lower sales.
Lanouette, whose clients include République and the Bel-Air Hotel, said that when he works on projects that require used equipment, he buys from Bush. And in today’s economy, where speed is key, refurbished products often do the trick.
“The times being what they are… it’s about opening the doors and putting money back into [a restaurateur’s] “I’m very grateful for my customers who don’t have deep pockets but have a dream,” Lanouette said. Bush’s products are “very helpful to a lot of my customers who don’t have deep pockets but have a dream.”
There will always be people who pursue that dream of opening a restaurant. Bush believes it’s innate in some people: they just want to feed others.
“They have to keep trying,” he said. “And, ultimately, we all have to eat.”
