Operating 20 restaurants across Charleston, Atlanta, Nashville, Raleigh, D.C., Arlington, and Charlotte, Steve Palmer’s hospitality group Indigo Road netted $50 million in revenue last year. Yesterday, Forbes released their list of 2019 Small Giants, naming Indigo Road and 24 other companies from North Dakota to New York City, specializing in everything from technology to healthy dog food to kick ass hospitality.
The privately owned companies that made the list were chosen because they “share a commitment to being the best at what they do, providing stellar service to customers, offering employees fulfilling, rewarding work and being vital members of their communities.” Indigo Road is the only restaurant-related biz to make the list, and one of only three company’s recognized from the Southeast.
[content-8] Palmer started the company in 2010 with Upper King’s sushi restaurant, O-Ku. Macintosh, Cocktail Club, Indaco, Cedar Room, Mercantile & Mash, and Oak Steakhouse would soon follow. In the Forbes profile, Palmer says after his fifth successful opening, to ensure growth in a high-failure industry, “I wanted my management team to drill down on how to better identify people … we spend every night taking care of customers. We are just now figuring out how to take care of each other.”
In 2017, Indigo Road launched a loan program to help their 960+ employees become homeowners; Palmer is also one of the founders of Ben’s Friends, an organization that hosts addiction support groups for people in F&B.
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