Our Story

Happy Day Local is a branch of the Happy Day Corporation, which owns 14 restaurants and 1 catering shop in Lewiston, Idaho and the surrounding areas. With these unique circumstances, an opportunity to bring local food directly into our community's marketplace has become a possibility. By working with our restaurants and catering services, we've created a straightforward path for local farmers, ranchers, and producers to get their products onto the plates of our customers.

Many small producers struggle to partner with large distributors like US Foods or Sysco because their supply is too small or inconsistent to meet the demands of those big systems. Instead, these producers often rely on local farmers' markets to sell directly to the community. Happy Day Local provides an alternative by offering a reliable, easy-to-access distribution channel for them to get their products into our restaurants, just like any other major supplier would. By working with Happy Day Local, we control where the food comes from, support local producers, and help boost our local economy.

Prepare. It's Coming.

2017 – 2020

The story begins in 2017 when my brother, William, introduced me to a prophecy by John Paul Jackson, known as the "Perfect Storm". Between 2008 and 2012, Jackson had warned that the United States would face a convergence of crises over the next decade—political upheaval, severe weather, pestilence, economic turmoil, and more.

William was particularly concerned about Jackson's mention of impending food shortages and urged me to consider growing our own food. At the time, I couldn't grasp the reality of such a scenario. I was focused on learning how to run a company and felt overwhelmed by the idea of taking on such a monumental task. Our restaurants relied heavily on a single distributor for 90% of our food, making it hard to envision how we would adapt to potential shortages.

Looking back, my lack of insight likely reflected my spiritual state. In my twenties, I was eager to change the world for Jesus, yet by my forties, I barely spoke of Him in public.

Then came 2020, a turning point. The events unfolding on the national stage didn't make sense. The government's response to COVID-19 felt irrational, and while giant corporations thrived, countless small businesses were shuttered. My wife and I saw this firsthand when we visited a Target in Spokane—only open due to its grocery section, yet eerily empty.

By June 2020, we experienced our first food shortage. Ground beef became scarce, and prices soared from $2.20 a pound to over $7.00. We bought as much as we could, sensing the urgency.

As the months passed, I leaned deeper into my faith, determined that my latter years wouldn't mirror the past decade. By the end of the year, my perspective had shifted dramatically. The world around me began to resemble The Truman Show—a carefully controlled illusion that had gradually drawn my heart away from God.

Then, in January 2021, I awoke each morning with a profound sense of urgency, praying and listening for Jesus's guidance. When I heard Him say, "Prepare – It's coming," I understood immediately.

The storm was coming.

Phase I: The First Orders

2021

I approached Frank Webster, our VP of Independent Operations, and told him, "We're going to buy a lot of food." I shared the entire story with him, and he was fully on board. Unsure of how long the challenges would last, we decided to stock enough food to maintain flexibility across our restaurant menus.

Frank contacted our main distributor, requesting an urgent meeting. "I'm going to place an order for $150,000," he told our rep, who happened to be in Walla Walla but agreed to come within two hours. It sounded outrageous, but that was part of the excitement—we felt assured that God had instructed us to prepare.

Alongside the food order, we built a large 30x40 freezer, despite initial challenges finding a suitable condenser and evaporator. Miraculously, we recalled a unit stored on the roof of our old meat-packing facility, which we had purchased for our catering business in 2007. Our maintenance team located it, and it turned out to be the perfect fit.

To streamline logistics, we also installed a new elevator in the corporate office to improve the receipt of dry goods.

Then, on April 6, 2021, a friend invited me to see a warehouse he was considering purchasing. As he spoke, I was flooded with vision—I wanted the warehouse.

Just hours later, Frank walked into my office. "I am lit," I told him. "I was just in this warehouse—I have all this vision inside me."

He interrupted me. "Do you want to know the place I've been praying we should buy?" He then drew the surrounding buildings and pointed directly to the warehouse I had just been in.

In July, we officially took possession of the warehouse, marking a significant step forward. By early 2022, we finalized all arrangements and closed on the purchase—solidifying our commitment to growth, service, and embracing the future with open arms.

Phase II: Building Begins

2022 – 2024

Once we had our new warehouse, it was go time. We continued to keep an eye on the essential ingredients needed for our restaurants. Whenever we found a good deal on products, we would buy in large quantities and store them at the warehouse as stock.

Construction at the warehouse has been ongoing for the last two years. In the beginning, the focus was on preparing the space for the opportunities ahead. We replaced the old, built a walk-in freezer, mapped out the different spaces we needed, repaired floors, and fully customized the facility for future use.

By December 2023, the butcher shop and hanging room celebrated their grand opening. Our butcher shop team began working with Big Canyon Beef, a local ranch that shares our concerns about the current food system.

Since then, we have transitioned all our independent restaurants to utilize this locally sourced beef, bringing our vision to life and strengthening our commitment to sustainability and quality.

The Shortages

Ongoing

When the large delivery finally arrived, the distributor's drivers admitted, "We thought you guys were crazy… there are shortages on nearly every delivery we're making." God was faithful, affirming our faith. The prophecy we had acted upon began to resonate back to us.

I remember speaking with a protein buyer for our distributor, who remarked, "It's not just one thing; it's a multitude of issues… it's like a 'Perfect Storm.'" Soon after, I started seeing similar themes in newspaper articles, reinforcing the gravity of what we were facing.

Product lines were so thin that we had to start looking to other distributors and find alternatives we could utilize. We turned to all food distributors as alternatives if we couldn't get a product. This worked in the meantime, but we realized we didn't want to be held captive. We knew we had the resources within our community to survive with a centralized system.

This is when we saw the opportunity to change the food system for our community—to become the processor and distributor of community goods. We could partner with nearby farmers and ranchers because we had 14 restaurants that could utilize their goods. We knew we could be the starting marketplace to support local producers.

The opportunity still needed time, as the warehouse was not ready to be the local processor or distributor. Our first step toward this vision was to create a fully functional butcher shop. This would benefit us in multiple ways: local ranchers wouldn't have to travel all the way to metropolitan areas to sell their beef to big corporations, and we would gain security in knowing where our beef supply was coming from.

If you're wondering if there are still shortages—yes, all the time. Some aren't as drastic, but you will see prices spike for low-cost goods or entire product lines become completely out of stock for periods of time. It's something you wouldn't fully notice by shopping at the grocery store, but you might see items becoming substantially more expensive.

Phase III: The Future

2025 & Beyond

As we look to the future, we're excited to share our vision for the warehouse:

• Full-Sized Bakery: Producing clean and nutrient-rich baked goods to support the needs of our restaurants.
• Beef Production Facility: We plan to see our butcher shop and hanging room flourish! It is currently supporting all of our restaurants, and we aim for it to have the bandwidth to support the rest of the community. As of January 2025, we are now a USDA-certified processing facility, serving a variety of beef cuts, along with sausages and brats!
• Commissary Space: This space allows us to efficiently process local products in different ways, enabling quicker production.
• Indoor Growing: We'll harness the power of indoor agriculture through aeroponic systems, allowing us to grow fresh produce efficiently and sustainably.
• Serving Up Local: With a dedicated facility for receiving and distributing local goods, we're committed to supporting our community and keeping the food supply chain strong. Our goal is to bring the best of local agriculture to kitchens everywhere.

We recognize that achieving this vision is a journey. It can't all happen overnight, but we're dedicated to making progress each day. Together, we'll bring this vision to life, one step at a time!

Meet Our Team