Hooters was started by 6 friends with no restaurant experience but somehow managed to turn an April Fool’s Day joke into a reality with an initial investment of just $140,000. Hooter’s flirts with the subtleties of being naughty but not too naughty, a type of art that sometimes gets it into trouble. The history of Hooters is filled with battles both internally and externally even with giants such as the government. Through it all it continued to experiment with several unique business ventures such as a casino hotel, airline, magazine and even a late night show. This is the insane story of how Hooters defeated all the odds to become a restaurant empire with 420 locations that spans 42 states and 29 countries.
Chapters:
0:00 – Prologue
0:31 – How It All Started
1:27 – Growth Phase & Buy Outs
2:27 – Internal Drama
3:43 – External Drama
4:18 – Turning The Corner
4:52 – Final Thoughts
Script:
Prologue
How does a restaurant go from one location in Clearwater, Fl to having it’s own airline, late night show, motel, casino hotel, magazine, 420 locations in 42 states and 29 countries in a span of 40 years with an initial investment of just $140,000 dollars? Well it certainly wouldn’t be rounding up 5 of your best friends to pitch in who didn’t have any restaurant experience and say to hell with it right? Well think again. This is the insane story of how Hooters defied the odds and managed to become an internationally recognizable brand.
How It All Started
Hooters was started by 6 friends Lynn Stewart, Gil DiGiannantonio, Ed Droste, Billy Ranieri, Ken Wimmer and Dennis Johnson. They were semi successful businessman who one day was playing parcheesi at “The Home for the Visually Offensive.” Desiring the finer things in life they came up with the half baked idea to open up a restaurant that they couldn’t get kicked out of and on April 1st, 1983 Hooters was officially formed. The date was an April Fools’ Day joke because even they believed that their restaurant would inevitably fail.
Everything was stacked against them. None of them had any experience running a restaurant evidenced by them attempting to sell alcohol before they received their liquor license and having to call up another friend to teach them how to light up the fryers.
They also built their first location on a site that had seen many many businesses fail. So much so that the Hooters six built a small “graveyard” at the front of the door for each that had come and gone before them.
But due to their savviness and marketing angle they attracted loyal customers and eventually Hugh Connerty’s attention.
***Below has been added on March 3rd, 2023***
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