The Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce has named Jim and the late Doris Demos as the 2011 Business Legends of the Year, and will honor them at the Chamber’s annual Business at its Best celebration on Friday, Feb. 3, at the Embassy Suites Murfreesboro Hotel and Conference Center.
Originally from Alabama, Jim and Doris Demos settled in Murfreesboro in 1989 after an extended business career that took Jim to cities throughout the South. Since the restaurant business ran deep in Jim’s family, he and Doris opened Demos’ in 1989, establishing a landmark on the Murfreesboro landscape. The restaurant has garnered exceptional reviews since its opening and has been the recipient of countless awards for restaurant food and service excellence, including the 2009 Legends Award from the Daily News Journal and the 2010 Talk of the Town Award for outstanding customer service. The founders were also honored as the Chamber’s Business People of the Year in 2009.
Since its founding, the restaurant concept has grown to five locations in Tennessee and Alabama, all delivering authentic family recipes at an authentic family value. The Demos opened Nashville in 1992, Lebanon in 2001, Hendersonville in 2005 and Florence, Ala., in 2009.
Both Jim and Doris came from humble beginnings. At the age of nine, Jim began working with his father, Pete Demos, a Greek immigrant who owned a small restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama. Doris grew up as a sharecropper’s daughter in Alabama and Georgia and met Jim when he was working in the movie theater business. A few years after their marriage, Jim began his restaurant business, eventually building and operating eight Western Sizzlin’ restaurants and a commissary in the Nashville area. He sold the operation in 1989 to open Demos’.
Jim has managed the operations at Demos’ and Doris handled the customer service. They implemented techniques, particularly on the customer service side, that were innovative for the industry. The couple has also been actively involved in community programs, as long-time supporters of the Child Advocacy Center, Habitat for Humanity, through both its Whittlemania and Doris Dollars programs, and other organizations focused on families and youth. Doris was also honored with a Center of Influence Award from the Tennessee National Guard’s 269th Military Police unit based in Murfreesboro for her support of soldiers and their families.
Doris, who passed away in December of 2010, and Jim have two children, both involved in the restaurant; Peter, who serves as president and Felicia who manages the financial aspect of the business.
The Business at its Best reception will begin at 5:30 p.m., followed by a dinner at 6:30 p.m. Reservations are $60 for Chamber members and $80 for non-members. To reserve your seat, please contact the Chamber at 615-893-6556 or visit www.rutherfordchamber.org.