After almost 40 years as a fixture at the Blacksburg Macado’s, general manager Jeff Niekirk, AKA Chez, will hang up his apron on July 10.
Enrolled at Virginia Tech, Niekirk started with Macado’s in 1982 after one of his friends asked him if he wanted to be a deli cook. Now, a career that might have started out as a summer job is coming to a close.
He acquired his nickname when he returned to Loudon County,where he went to high school, accompanied by one of the company’s original employees, Sam Burns. Burns heard Niekirk’s mom call him “her little cheese apple, and the nickname Chez was born, a name that now virtually all of the employees know him as.
After graduating from Tech in 1984 and having trouble landing a job in his field, Niekirk decided on a full-time job with Macado’s as an assistant manager. In 1995, he was promoted to General Manager, a position he has maintained for 26 years now.
Niekirk has taken great pride in his former employees, some of who have become doctors and lawyers. One young waitress named Jen Price has gone on to be a general manager at the Macado’s in Grand Pavilion. Asked to describe Niekirk, Price said, “I worked with Niekirk for 13 years, and consider him like a second dad and mentor. His patience and calm demeanor are why everyone loves him.”
Some of his employees have had their sons and daughters follow in their footsteps and work at the restaurant. That includes Niekirk’s own children.
John Doyle, the restaurant’s general manager before Niekirk, credits Chez with helping him succeed. Doyle, who is now a vice president with the Fiesta Restaurant Group, said Chez embodies and imparted the greatest lesson of his career: sales and profits cannot be increased without effectively engaging your people. And you cannot engage your people without genuinely caring and concistening acting in their best interest.
Niekirk says he is retiring because it takes a lot of energy and time to be a good general manager, and now he wants to spend time with his family. Asked about his final thoughts, Chez said, “Man I had a good time and I am a lucky man.”
To honor Jeff for all he has done for Macado’s Blacksburg, the company will hold a retirement bash July 10 at the restaurant starting at 7 p.m. with music provided by The Kind.
