Barbecue Gone Bad

The American dream is to own your own company and profit greatly from it. Franchise from Mc Donald's to subway have offered and even guaranteed it.Yet some franchises promise everything and deliver nothing. This is the story of one - Dickey's in Texas.

regular contributor Brett Anderson wrote about this in yesterday's New York Times wednesday's Food section. dickey's is a staple in southern states where it serves up everything from down home barbecue to chicken wings to fried okra. The original owner ,opened up the first dickey's in 1941 in Dallas. He was Travis Dickey a world war One veteran, helped out by his wife Miss Ollie.Their menu was a simple one, selling brisket, pit hams and bottled milk.The family business grew into a small local chain. after his death in 1967 his sons Roland and TD took over. It wasn't until grandson Roland dickey Junior took over in 2006 that the company expanded. He took advantage of the burgeoning love of all things barbecue and expanded from just twenty locations to 550. It made Dickey's the world's largest barbecue chain and one fo the fastest growing restaurant franchises.Its growth was fueled by teaming up with potential owners who had little to no experience but were attracted to the ridiculously low start up costs that promised big returns.

This is where the trouble beings.franchisees have told The Times that Dickey's sales reps sold failing locations to new owners multiple times without any warning. The tactic r educes the numbers of closings reported in public bankruptcy filings and enables fees to continue flowing to the parent company. The franchise's attract military people, cashing in on the founder's own military service. Roland dickey's Juniors mother ,Maurine,a former Dallas commissioner  also leads the company charity that center saround law enforcement, firefighters and other emergency workers. These bring in new owners ,probably impressed by this. One such owner was former military contractor Tracy Norris who saw Dickey's franchises advertised in the military newspaper Stars and Stripes.. he and his wife were interested and it looked like a good deal. Once bought the Norri's had to buy from Dickey approved vendors who were higher in price than their competitors. The Norris'felt like an open checkbook.Their location in Sanger Texas, right outside Roy Roberts Lake closed after eighteen months. They lost everything, including their home. This was the way for most dickey's owners. They invested everything, heart and soul only to have it lost months later.

Is Dickey's a cautionary tale to anyone thinking about a buying a franchise? Yes. Consider the more famous national or international ones. The odds of succeeding with one seems pretty good.