(KARK) A once popular restaurant chain that dwindled to just one location in the state is making a comeback.
The owner of the Minute Man Restaurant of El Dorado has partnered with Matchbox Food Group founder and Arkansas native Perry J. Smith to revive the legendary brand. Initial plans call for opening three locations in the Little Rock and Conway areas.
Minute Man was a pioneering fast-casual restaurant founded in Little Rock by entrepreneur Wesley (Wes) Hall. The original Minute Man location opened at 407 Broadway on May 26, 1948. At the height of its operations, the company had 57 company-owned and franchised locations throughout Arkansas, Tennessee and Louisiana.
“We’ve been around so long our customers call us the ‘The Last Minute Man Standing,'” she says in a news release issued Wednesday.
McGoogan is assisted in the restaurant by her husband Paul and son Brent, making it a true family enterprise.
“We’re still doing great and customers line up when we get ready to open every day,” she says.
May 26, 2018 marked the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Minute Man chain.
In her career, McGoogan has fed a large number of dignitaries such as Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, past U.S. Senators from Arkansas as well as Bill and Hillary Clinton. With no plans yet to retire, she’s excited “to get Minute Man up and running again.” She adds, “People ask me every day if Minute Man can open in Little Rock or wherever. I tell ’em just stay tuned-that’s our plan!”
Smith is a career restaurateur who’s been a huge fan of Minute Man since he was a child.
“My earliest restaurant experience was at a Minute Man on Cantrell Road in Little Rock. I think I was about 7 years old. McDonald’s had opened down the street and all the kids were pestering their parents to take them for hamburgers. My dad said ‘No, but I’m going to take you to an Arkansas restaurant to get a real charcoal grilled hamburger and fries. I was hooked.”
Smith is the founder of the multi-unit restaurant company Matchbox Food Group with locations in California, Maryland, Florida, Virginia, DC and Texas. After selling his shares in the restaurants, Smith founded The Avalon Institute a business and leadership development firm. In addition, during his frequent travels to Arkansas, he began researching the history of Minute Man and driving to El Dorado to eat at the restaurant. Reports Smith, “The food, burgers and fries were fantastic, just like I remember growing up.”
Over the years, Smith and McGoogan’s relationship grew, with Smith providing informal guidance in management, operations, quality control and branding. In June of 2018, they formalized their partnership by way of a new entity Minute Man, AR Management with the sole focus of bringing it back.
Read the rest of the story at KARK.com.
READ MORE: Hutchinson: Arkansas is “Filled with Opportunity”
Image courtesy of Minute Man Memories (Facebook)
