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Eric Schechter

New Position: Director of development, Shells Seafood Restaurants, Tampa. Previous Position: Director of facilities and energy management, May Department Stores, Conshohocken, Pa.

By Times Staff Writer
Published December 19, 2005

Since the beginning of November, Eric Schechter has been busy changing the look of Shells restaurants across the state.

In his new role as director of development, Schechter is heading up the ongoing remodeling of many of the 25 Shells in Florida. He's also in charge of another project that was in progress when he joined the company: creating a new look for Shells restaurants. "We're reidentifying ourselves," he said.

"We're in the process of developing a prototype building," he said. "You'll be able to recognize a Shells building just by the architecture, without seeing the Shells sign."

Plans call for the prototype building to be ready by the third quarter of 2006.

"That's our goal," he said. "It's not carved in stone. A lot of work goes into designing a prototype. We hope to put it into Tampa, where it's close by (to Shells headquarters) and we can fine-tune it."

Schechter said he also is responsible for seeking property "in areas that would be good markets for us to go into or existing markets we're already in to grow a brand." In addition, Schechter oversees the company's existing stores, facilities repair and maintenance, as well as energy maintenance.

Controlling energy costs "is one of the challenges of any restaurant," he said. "A lot of it is behavior at the store: being conscious of costs, having an energy program in place, monitoring heating and air-conditioning temperatures, monitoring when lights go on and lights go off."

Schechter was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Houston. He earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1982 from the University of Houston. While in college, he learned skills as a refrigeration technician and worked on food service equipment, his first venture into the restaurant industry.

Upon graduation, Schechter started his own refrigeration business in Houston, selling it five years later to join Marriott Corp. as a regional facilities manager in Paramus, N.J. He returned to Texas, working in facilities management with Denny's Restaurants, Blockbuster Video and Einstein Bagel Corp. before moving to Tampa in 2002 to become vice president of operations with Diversified Maintenance. In 2004 he joined May Department Stores of Conshohocken, Pa., commuting from his home in Spring Hill.

He said was glad to give up the commute when he took the job with Shells, and to be back in the restaurant business. It "gets in your blood," Schechter said. "It's addictive. It's a very complicated business and very challenging, and you either love it or you hate it. I'm one of those who absolutely loves it.

"I've tried other avenues. I've tried retail. I've tried working as a contractor. I've found my skill set," he said.

Schechter and his wife, Laurette, have two children, Ryan, 18, and Shelby, 13. In his spare time, Schechter, 44, is an instructor for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, a national organization that provides classes for individuals who want to add a motorcycle endorsement to their driver's license.

"In Florida, you need an endorsement to ride a motorcycle," Schechter said. He teaches the seminars for the Cycle School of Florida in Spring Hill.

He teaches the classes "one or two weekends a month. I enjoy it," he said. "I like to give back to the sport. It makes me feel good knowing a lot of folks out there riding have proper instruction."

Schechter said he has several motorcycles but no favorite. "I'm eclectic," he said. "I ride whatever the mood is."

[Last modified December 15, 2005, 18:00:05]