The Rotary Club of Edina will welcome Luke Shimp as program speaker at this week's meeting, Thursday, Aug. 10. Shimp is president and owner of Red Cow, which operates four Red Cow "21st Century Taverns" in the Twin Cities, and Red Rabbit restaurant in the North Loop of Minneapolis. The program topic will be "A Conversation about Growth with Luke Shimp." For more on the speaker, click on the link below...
Luke Shimp's entrepreneurial spirit sprouted in 1988 as a fourteen year old. Out of his father’s auto body repair facility Luke started refurbishing damaged automobiles to sell. This enterprise was quite successful; by the age of 17 Luke was selling over $800,000 in autos.
During Luke’s high school years, his love of auto racing took root. Luke drove and built various racing vehicles and it was during this time his desire to race professionally was solidified.
Luke moved to Charlotte, North Carolina to pursue a career in NASCAR. Luke landed a job with one of NASCAR’s premier teams, Roush-Fenway Racing (#6—Mark Martin) as chassis specialist and Luke was a tire-changer for four seasons on Mark Martin’s Winston Cup and Busch Series teams.
Joe Gibbs, former Washington Redskins coach, recruited Luke to join his team for the 1999 season (#18—Bobby Labonte). In 1999, the team placed second in the championship and won the coveted prize in 2000. Over the course of seven seasons, Luke was part of 26 Winston Cup wins, notables: Indianapolis, Daytona, Sonoma, Talladega & Darlington. Luke retired from NASCAR in 2001 to join Blue Plate Restaurant Company; his entrepreneurial spirit was calling again.
Luke purchased an interest in BPRC and started the growth. Two units were added in 2005, Groveland Tap and Longfellow Grill; then a new and improved Edina Grill, 2006; 3 Square’s, 2008; Scusi, 2010; and The Lowry 2011. In 2009 Luke and partners David Burley and Stephanie Shimp were awarded “Restaurateur’s of the Year” by MN Restaurant Association.
Luke left BPRC in March 2012 to create a new brand Red Cow, a 21st Century Tavern. Red Cow’s first location opened in Minneapolis’s Fulton Neighborhood, February 2013. A second location was added in St Paul’s Cathedral Hill neighborhood, June 2014; the third location in Minneapolis’ North Loop, February 2015; Red Rabbit was added, December 2016; and a fourth Red Cow in Uptown debuts August 2017.
Red Cow employs over 470 people and has experienced double-digit growth since inception. Several local and national publications have raved about Luke’s vision and creative menu and atmosphere. Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine awarded Red Cow the coveted “Best Burger” award for their turkey burger. Eater named the 60/40 one of 2015’s Hottest Burgers in North America. The Business Journal awarded their coveted 2015 Eureka Award and St Paul Area Chamber of Commerce’s 2015 Duebener Award for Emerging Business to Luke and his team. In 2016 the team earned top honors at Twin Cities Burger Battle and Luke became the only two-time winner of MN Restaurant Association’s Restaurateur of the Year.
The Rotary Club of Edina meets at 12:15 p.m. Thursdays at the Edina Country Club. All are welcome. Cost for lunch and the program is $20. Cash and check will be accepted at the door this week. There will be no credit card payment option available.