THOMASVILLE, N.C. (WGHP) — It’s funny how things can work out.

A year or so ago, Bethany Martin wasn’t sure what she’d do with her business. She had been diagnosed with stage IV cancer a few years before, and that drove her to start her own healthy eating business called Perfect Portions. 

But it wasn’t a traditional restaurant. It was a healthy food-prep setup, so she didn’t really need the storefront she had in Thomasville. In fact, she wanted to move her business to Asheboro, but she had that storefront.

Then one day, Nathan Stringer walked by.

Stringer had worked at several locations, including Jake’s Tavern in Greensboro, which is known for its food. He wanted his own operation and had bought a food truck. He was on his way to his first event with that truck in March of 2020 when everything shut down, but he didn’t want to give up on his dream.

“I had a passion for doing food, and I knew that if I was creative enough, I could come up with something that works,” Stringer said.

A while later, he said he was strolling by Martin’s storefront on a prayer walk, trying to figure out what to do with his business when he peered into her shop and saw all the equipment she wanted to sell. It was a perfect professional marriage.

They were still acquaintances when Martin took a moment to text Stringer about whether he wanted to buy some of her kitchen equipment. 

It allowed him to have something more permanent than a food truck. He took the entire operation. Had Martin not taken that moment to text him, she believes her operation would be closed.

It’s all a lesson in how things come together.

“Each little thing had to happen for this to end up here,” Martin said.

“Here” is the fact that Martin and Stringer are now partners of sorts. He bought the operation in Thomasville but needed a way to stay afloat during the pandemic amid the rising prices that came with it. 

So he and Martin now share that space.  She uses it to do her prep and storage for Perfect Portions, and he uses it as a restaurant called Bueno Burrito. 

They not only are both able to cut costs this way by sharing overhead, but they cross-promote each other’s businesses.

It’s worked so well, Stringer has been able to bring in two other businesses that also share the kitchen and storage space. It may not be the answer to how restaurants and food providers survive in the future, but Martin believes it will be a big part of it.

“I think that sharing and being able to reach further than the brick-and-mortar is very key,” Stringer said,

It’s certainly worked out for all of them.

“I am really happy about the fact that I don’t have to maintain a storefront anymore,” Martin said.

See how their operation works in this edition of The Buckley Report.