YouTube sensation Spanian's kebab empire appears to be crumbling, with insiders claiming his hugely hyped food outlets are down to two trucks and a struggling shop.
asserted
outlets → appear → trucks
As the last vestiges of his distinctive kebab shop logo in trendy Newtown were painted over this week and new owners erased all evidence of him, brutal signs of his shrinking business have emerged.
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signs → paint → business
The Daily Mail has learned that Spanian's Kebabs, which once boasted ten outlets and touted the opening of the Newtown shop and another in Kogarah in southern Sydney, is down to just three.
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which → learn → three
Food industry suppliers say that only food trucks in Bowen Hills in Brisbane and Preston in Melbourne plus the Kogarah shop remain, and the latter is 'struggling'.
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latter → say → Melbourne
Spanian's Kebabs Kogarah, prominently placed next to the entrance of Woolworths by Kogarah Town Centre and the train station, employed four people after its March opening and is now down to just one or two.
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Kogarah → place → one
Fans were disappointed at the opening when Spanian failed to appear and instead a cartoon mascot of the tattooed star turned up at the launch.
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mascot → disappoint → launch
Now the shop has cut back its doner meat deliveries and bread supplies, no customers are queueing up, and the disappointed franchisees have admitted they are 'not doing what they expected to do and could close down'.
uncertain
they → cut → what
It is a similar story to what happened with Spanian's Kebabs Newtown, which started off with large supply orders and dwindled from 20kg kebab skewers at a time to 10kg, and from two or more a day down to one.
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which → happen → one
Spanian's kebab empire has unravelled, although the financial pain will have mostly been felt by the franchisees who paid about $250,000 plus GST for the rights to trade under his brand
Social media star Spanian, whose real name is Anthony Lees, attended the grand opening of his kebab shop on a 'cursed corner' of King Street in Sydney's Newtown back in January
Fans were disappointed when the YouTube sensation failed to show up at the opening of his much-touted Kogarah store, and instead sent a cartoon mascot of himself to greet customers
This week, the takeover of the Newtown corner shop that Spanian, whose real name is Anthony Lees, hailed just nine months ago as proof of his success in the food industry, has been swift and unforgiving.
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name → unravel → industry
The store was touted by Spanian - a reformed criminal who has a worldwide following for his YouTube videos touring notorious crime-ridden hotspots - as the ultimate sign that his latest reinvention as a hospitality entrepreneur was paying off.
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reinvention → tout → entrepreneur
The bricks-and-mortar location followed his original food truck operations on the NSW Central Coast and in Victoria and Queensland.
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location → follow → Victoria
Franchisees allegedly pay between $250,000 and $350,000 plus GST for the right to trade under the Spanian's Kebabs name for a franchise of up to seven years - but the buyer for the Newtown business barely got that many months before it closed.
uncertain
it → pay → months
After opening to great fanfare at the inner-western Sydney location on one of the city's busiest hospitality strips, patronage fell away amid unkind social media reviews of the quality of Spanian's food.
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patronage → open → food
Spanian's point of difference - why his kebabs were 'special' - had been that they were modelled on kebabs he ate in Frankfurt, Germany.
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he → model → Frankfurt
Instead of being wrapped in the traditional kebab-style flatbread, they were served on thicker bread rolls packed with the meat, fresh salads and custom sauces.
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they → wrap → meat
Spanian is pictured with his trademark Mercedes-Benz G63 in January, around the time his ninth kebab outlet opened in Newtown, only to close down nine months later
A small crowd attended the opening of the Kogarah Spanian's Kebabs with a mascot of the YouTube star.
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crowd → picture → star
Traffic to the shop has dwindled along with staff required to operate it
The empty kebab shop on King Street Newtown was stripped this week of all traces of Spanian
One of the reviews said: 'Got refused service yesterday at Gosford.'
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One → dwindle → Gosford
Kristian Morris of Ray White Real Estate in Glebe, the real estate agent for the closed-down 159 King Street location, refused to comment on the financial details of that franchisee because they were 'personal'.
However, a major supplier to the shop told the Daily Mail that its supplies payment arrangement had flipped from credit to 'pro forma'.
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arrangement → close → forma
This is an arrangement in which the franchisee must pay for the product before it is delivered instead of being indebted to the supplier.
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it → pay → supplier
Before it was abruptly shuttered early this month, it was making only small orders of the kebab ingredients as its custom petered out.
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custom → shutter → ingredients
This week, the shop logo with its cartoon depiction of a tattooed Spanian holding a tray of kebabs had been obliterated.
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logo → hold → kebabs
The shop's new occupants were painting out the yellow interior to refit it for the opening in a few weeks' time of a Little-L Burgers restaurant, a franchise which has outlets in Bondi, Manly and Maroubra with good reviews.
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which → paint → reviews
Mr Morris said the franchisee conceded that Spanian's Kebabs had 'probably not been right for Newtown'.
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Kebabs → say → Newtown
Spanian outside on the opening day of the Newtown kebab shop, which is now shut
Spanian has had a hectic few years during which he split from wife Angela McColl, started dating Ava Jean Walker (right), shredded kilos of weight and also underwent plastic surgery
McColl has launched a popular YouTube channel of her own since splitting from Spanian
The premises, owned for 42 years by a Greek-Australian family company Moweno Pty Ltd, previously housed a longtime Turkish kebab operator before being renovated and refitted three years ago.
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premises → shut → operator
It reopened as Mr Potato, the Adelaide-based fast-food chain that began in 2018, expanded into the Gold Coast then Newtown in 2023, before going into liquidation in June last year.
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that → reopen → June
Mr Potato's spectacular collapse last year gave the Newtown shop address the reputation of being a 'cursed corner'.
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collapse → give → reputation
Franchisees were left facing bankruptcy after the Australian Tax Office brought wind-up action over a $150,000 debt.
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Office → leave → debt
Mr Potato was wound up owing money to suppliers, staff and garbage collectors, with rubbish piling up outside the shop and teenage workers out of pocket.
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workers → wind → pocket
Towards its end, ingredients for Mr Potato's menu items were being bought from Woolworths via Uber Eats before it finally closed its doors.
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it → buy → doors
Mr Morris said that while 'Mr Potato didn't go well', there was currently a 'perfect storm for the food and beverage industry' with the costs of produce, electricity and wages through the roof.
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Potato → say → roof
A food supplier to Spanian's Kebabs told the Mail that it became obvious when an outlet was in the downward spiral because its supply orders shrivelled.
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orders → tell → spiral
Spanian's image has now been expunged from his former Newtown franchise as all but three locations in the Spanian's Kebabs chain are closed down and the Kogarah shop is struggling
Some online reviews of Spanian's kebabs were brutal
Spanian celebrated the opening of ten locations in March this year with a shop at Kogarah - but that is now struggling and he is down to only two others
Spanian's nose job was widely regarded by fans as out of character for the YouTube hardman
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job → expunge → hardman
Retail expert Barry Urquhart said that it was key that celebrities that have their own brand align it with their values
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that → say → values
They said the Spanian brand had begun 'with all good intentions but they struggle in the current conditions in Australia.
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they → say → Australia
When Spanian opened the Newtown store, he said: 'Store number nine opening Newtown, store number ten opening soon Kogarah.
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he → open → number
It doesn't stop.'
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It → stop → ?
Franchisees are responsible for expenses including rent, supplies and ongoing staffing costs.
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Franchisees → include → rent
Franchise fees alone could potentially have generated more than $1.5million for the Spanian empire.
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fees → generate → empire
Spanian's Kebabs began as a food truck in Haberfield and still lists an outlet at East Gosford, although its Macarthur Square location near Campbelltown has since disappeared from the company's website.
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location → begin → website
The Daily Mail has asked Spanian to confirm that the kebab business was down to just three locations.
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business → ask → locations
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
