Magic’ Johnson buys 47-unit Fatburger chain

LOS ANGELES — Johnson Development Corp., headed by basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson, acquired the 47-unit Fatburger fast-food chain and plans to open another 100 units nationwide over the next five years. Terms of the deal, which was funded by GE Capital Franchise Finance, were not disclosed.
Johnson Development in 1998 became Starbucks Coffee’s first 50/50 joint-venture partner and has units in several cities. The Los Angeles company, which has two T.G.I. Friday’s units in a joint-venture alliance begun two years ago in Atlanta, also operates the Magic Johnson Theater cineplex chain.
Santa Monica, Calif.-based Fatburger, whose outlets dub themselves “The last great hamburger stand,” has units in California, Arizona, Nevada and Washington. Keith A. Warlick will serve as president and chief executive of Fatburger Corp., the company said.
Last year Longview, Texas-based Restaurant Teams International Inc. agreed to acquire the then-35-unit Fatburger from FB Holding Corp. for $8 million.

McD franchisee hits ‘Ground’ running to feed WTC rescuers

NEW YORK – There haven’t been many happy meals in Lloyd Frazier’s life lately.
Since the attacks on the World Trade Center here Sept. 11, the McDonald’s franchisee, with stores located just blocks from Ground Zero, has been feeding the walking wounded — firefighters, police officers and rescue workers searching for the more than 5,000 people buried in the rubble.
With the help of McDonald’s Corp., Frazier, a franchisee for 11 years, was able to serve more than 21,000 meals to emergency workers on the first day alone.
With two stores in the downtown area, one on Fulton Street and the other on Chambers Street, Frazier and his manager, Raymond II Defonso, began Sept. 11 like any other day, with a meeting at the Chambers Street store.
“We were planning to have a meeting, before the telephones started ringing and the events of the day became distracting,” Frazier said. “And then one of the girls came in and said the top of the building blew up, and I thought she meant this building, so I went out to Look. And I saw the World Trade Center with this gaping hole in it and I said, Oh my God.’
Frazier immediately ran back to the McDonald’s and started evacuating everyone in the building.
“I ran into the restaurant, and I said: ‘Everybody out. Let’s go,’” he recalled. “I got all the kids; they were scared. I just said, ‘Keep going north. You’ll find people that will help direct you.’ Then I looked at Raymond, who is my right hand, and I said, ‘Well Raymond, we went through this in ’93 [when the World Trade Center previously was bombed by terrorists].’ And he said, ‘Oh no, boss. Don’t tell me we’re staying.’ I said we had to. Someone had to stick around to help those people. And he said, ‘OK.’”
II Defonso said he really had no choice but to stand by Frazier and to help in any way he could.
“It was crazy, hectic,” he said. “Lloyd was sending everyone home. I looked at him, and he said we had to stay. Everyone was running, but I thought if he was staying, I would be right there with him’
Frazier remembered the first bombing at the WTC and knew that this time things were far worse.
“We knew this was even bigger than that day in ’93,” he said. “I remember that day vividly, but this, you could see it and know it was serious, just bad, bad, bad.
“The firemen were coming in, covered in ash. Some of them were bleeding. They were crying and they were scared, but all they kept saying was, ‘I gotta get back to my brothers.’ You know they’re a fraternity. You could see their fear and shock. They were overwhelmed. They were already exhausted. Just the adrenaline rushing through their bodies had to exhaust them. We hosed them down barely enough so they could see again, breathe again and, bang, they were back out there running down the street again. They were incredible, exhibiting acts of bravery and loyalty to their fraternity and, for that matter, anyone else who needed them.”
Firemen, police and the National Guard began thronging the store, which still had power. And making matters worse, seven or eight senior citizens were trapped in the restaurant, unable to leave during the siege.
Knowing they would need water, the two men immediately loaded ice into garbage cans and threw 10 cases of bottled water into the bins as well. The ice-cream machine and fryer still worked, so they quickly started making batches of milk shakes and french fries.
“We were making everyone McFlurries and fries,” Frazier said. “We did that for a good couple of hours, till we lost the power.”
The franchisee’s main concern was for the senior citizens stuck in his store, but he was in for a surprise.
“This one woman was here with her aide,” he said. “She was 92 years old. Ray and I were running around; the emergency workers were running around. It’s a war zone, and she grabs my arm and tells me I’m cute. So I teased her and asked if she was hitting on me. Then I asked if I could treat her to an ice cream. It was a sweet exchange in the midst of all this horror.”
At about 5 p.m. WTC Building No. 7 was about to implode, and everyone knew it. But Frazier had no idea he’d end up saving at least one firefighter and a police officer when it fell.
“We knew Building 7 was coming down,” he said. “People were running, scrambling. They were sending people back past Chambers Street, up to Reed, but we wanted to stay in the store. We asked if it would be safe, and they said it would, but to stay away from the windows.
“Raymond and I were up the street, talking to a sergeant, when I heard the sound. And we started running. It was like an avalanche coming at us. Then I saw this cop coming around the corner. He didn’t know it was coming over the top of the building. I’m here seeing it, and I’m yelling, ‘Go, go, go, go.’ I saw the shrapnel flying through the air, and I just got him in the door as total blackness came over us. Everything hit the windows, and then there was total silence. Then I saw a faint light; someone was out there. And the people inside were saying, ‘Don’t open the door; don’t open the door.’ But I had to get the guy. He wasn’t going to make it in here. It was a fireman. I went out, got him and pulled him in. And in walks this ghost, absolutely covered with ash.”
After the building fell, Ray Lynch of the city’s Operation of Emergency Management, or OEM, asked Frazier how much water he had left. He told him only 10 cases were left, but he could get more by calling McDonald’s distributor. With the help of McDonald’s Corp. and its supplier, the National Guard and police were able to escort a tractor-trailer truck carrying 24,000 more bottles into the city that night.
“They asked if I could get it to the George Washington Bridge, and I said yes,” Frazier remembered. “Then they told me to call them when it was a half-hour out, and they would have it met. They told me to make sure it was identifiable, and I said it would be a big McDonald’s truck.”
The next day, Sept. 12, OEM’s Lynch came to the store, which had become a respite for the rescue workers. Frazier told him he could get more food in if Lynch wanted it. The OEM director said: “Do it. Same rules. Meet us at the bridge, and we’ll bring it down here.”
Then Frazier pitched an even bigger idea. He told the director he could get a mobile unit to the site and feed everyone hot sandwiches, burgers and nuggets.
“I said, ‘I’ll get this unit in here, and we’ll get everyone fed. But I’ll need some cooperation.’ They said, ‘Done deal, do it.’ So I made the phone call, raised the flag and McDonald’s came running.”
According to Frazier, once people were able to travel in and out of New York, the president of McDonald’s, Henry Gonzalez, came with his wife and kids to help serve food.
“This is the president of McDonald’s,” Frazier said. “They put on masks, helmets, and took buckets of food down to Ground Zero. At one point I was walking down there; my stores were closed; I was out of business. Henry and I talked a bit. He asked me how I was doing, and I said, ‘Well, it seems like I’ll have a bit of time on my hands.’ And he looked me right in the eye, put his hand on my shoulder and said I had nothing to worry about. He said, ‘Don’t worry about your stores; don’t worry about your business. You’ve got enough to worry about with this operation right now. We’ll take care of everything else.’ How much better does it get than that? A couple of days later Jack Greenberg walks in. And what does he do? He gets trays of food and walks down to Ground Zero. He said to me, ‘Lloyd, don’t stop for a second.’ He said whatever it took to take care of these people, just do it.”
McDonald’s spent approximately $670,000 on the effort, and Coca-Cola Co. donated $200,000, but Frazier said he couldn’t put a dollar value on his volunteers’ time. “I’ve never been more proud to be a McDonald’s operator,” he said.
Frazier, who reopened his units Oct. 2, said sales are down only 1.2 percent. He’s back at his stores, business as usual, but noted that nothing is the same.
“Things will never be normal, not in my head, not in my life,” he said. “But I’ve been enriched in many ways. I’m nothing fancy. I’m a pretty regular guy that was put in a spot I didn’t want to be in. But something told me to stay. And as it turns out, some people say I saved a couple of lives. So maybe that’s why I was here.”