Buns’ first customer of the day comes in. He has been waiting outside for 10 minutes.

Robbins reports hearing that a restaurant down the street is going out of business. It’s located on Franklin Street, the town’s main drag and a spot notorious for its high rent. Buns is on a side street, which means it receives less foot traffic and pays lower rent. The 2,000-square-foot location has served the restaurant well.

“I did not see much of a change,” Namour says about business after the onset of the recession. With about 370 customers per day, an average ticket price of $6.50, and a steady increase in business, Buns is on track to make almost $1 million in revenue by the end of its first year.

Buns’ operating costs haven’t been affected much by the economy, either. The store increased prices by 50 cents in November after food costs went up, but they have since come down again. Now Buns’ profit margins sit at 10 to 15 percent.

Customers consistently tell managers they should be charging a lot more, but Namour keeps prices low since he doesn’t invest much in marketing. Beyond donating gift cards to local organizations and buying the occasional university newspaper ad, Namour relies exclusively on word-of-mouth marketing, a strategy that’s already paid off. Out-of-town visitors flood Buns after sporting events, telling Namour that word of the store’s opening has reached them even from afar.

Two representatives from Pate Dawson, a local food distributor, visit the store. Namour schedules an appointment to meet with them the following Monday.

At first, vendors wouldn’t even consider giving Namour the credit they usually give franchisees. He had to pay for everything cash on delivery (COD).

“Nobody wants to take a chance on you,” he says. “Everybody waits for you to build your business.”

Now multiple vendors solicit Namour daily; everything from food distributors to credit card companies want a piece of Buns’ profits. Perhaps the most striking example is Buns’ experience with Coca-Cola.

When Namour first talked to the company, it wanted to charge him weekly service fees and refused to give him any perks for signing. Meanwhile Pepsi offered Buns free cups, a free ice machine, and no service charges. In the seven months the store operated in 2008, it generated more business for Pepsi than some restaurants do in an entire year.

“In the last two months, Coke hasn’t stopped calling me,” Namour says. Company reps even offered to pay Namour reparations for each case of Pepsi he’s ordered. But Namour is sticking with Pepsi.

“This is what an independent faces,” he says.

The brunt of the lunch rush has been in full force since noon and will continue for the next hour. The line is often so long it goes out the door. Although it’s raining outside, customers wait to be served.

Namour has always subscribed to a hands-on philosophy. If a customer wants something not on the menu, he talks to the kitchen staff to ensure it comes out right.

“We’re in the hospitality industry,” he says. “It’s named hospitality because we’re going to accommodate you.”

He works the cash register, delivers food, and talks to as many customers as possible, offering to throw out their trash for them and saying goodbye when they leave.

Before getting a to-go box for one woman’s leftovers, Namour asks her why she hasn’t touched her fries. Was something wrong?

They were good, she says. She’s just full.

“If a person has a bad experience, they’ll tell a minimum of 20 people,” Namour says. “You tackle the problem before they leave.”

Buns’ U.S. Foodservice salesman arrives.

Namour places food orders four or five times each week from three vendors: U.S. Foodservice, Sysco Corporation, and Orrell’s Food Service.

His bookkeeper sends him updated food prices, and he orders the cheapest products from each vendor, pitting them against each other in a bidding war. But Namour doesn’t sacrifice quality for price.

“It has to be comparing apples to apples,” Namour says. He would never accept a lower-quality substitute for 81/19 Angus Chuck Ground Beef or No. 1 Idaho potatoes. Even the chicken patties, which were added to the menu after famed UNC basketball player Tyler Hansbrough requested them one day, are acceptable only in 6-ounce portions so his staff doesn’t have to cut them to the correct size.

“You want idiot-proof,” he says.

The U.S. Foods rep asks Namour if he needs any bacon, but he says no; Sysco can sell him the same thing for less. The salesman says he can beat Sysco’s price.

“Notice how he didn’t offer me the lower price until after he saw I was ordering from Sysco,” Namour says.

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