Most restaurant technology startups begin with software.
Jeremy Fitzgerald started with a storage room.
Before launching 86Deadstock, Fitzgerald spent years operating restaurants, opening concepts, buying locations, and remodeling stores. Along the way, he kept running into the same problem: restaurants accumulate inventory, equipment, and supplies they no longer use, but have no efficient way to turn those items back into cash.
During a conversation with Shawn Walchef on Digital Hospitality at the National Restaurant Association Show, Fitzgerald explained why he believes nearly every operator is sitting on untapped value.
“Every restaurant in the world has dead stock,” Fitzgerald said.
The idea for 86Deadstock came from firsthand experience. While running restaurants, Fitzgerald found himself dealing with excess inventory from remodels and closures. Then one Saturday night, he ran out of thermal paper during service and asked a simple question.
“Why can’t I just find a restaurant around me that has it?” he said.
That question became the foundation for 86Deadstock, a marketplace built specifically for restaurants to buy and sell equipment, supplies, and excess inventory directly with one another.
The Problem Restaurants Ignore
Fitzgerald believes most operators have thousands of dollars tied up in items sitting in back rooms, basements, warehouses, and storage units.
“We’re hoarders,” he said.
Whether it’s a conveyor toaster, unused smallwares, leftover inventory, or equipment from a remodel, many restaurants hold onto items for years because they think they might need them someday.
But Fitzgerald sees those items differently.
“That $5,000 just paid for rent that month,” he said.
The platform also creates opportunities for suppliers. Fitzgerald shared examples of distributors using 86Deadstock to move excess inventory while connecting with new restaurant customers. In one case, a supplier sold discounted products through the platform, personally delivered the order, and turned the buyer into a recurring customer.
Building For Operators
What makes Fitzgerald’s approach different is that he built the platform as an operator himself.
“I lived this problem,” he said.
His goal is not simply helping restaurants clear storage space. He wants operators to save money when buying products and generate cash flow when selling items they no longer need.
“There’s a way to save so much money,” Fitzgerald said.
The challenge now is adoption. Operators understand the value immediately, but changing habits takes time.
“Everyone loves it. We just gotta get people to list,” he said.
For Fitzgerald, the opportunity is bigger than a marketplace.
It’s a way for restaurant owners to help other restaurant owners solve problems, reduce waste, and find value in things that would otherwise sit unused.
Because sometimes the best way to improve your margins isn’t buying something new.
It’s making better use of what you already have.
