Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue I, 2014 | Page 32

MEGA
By Debbie Selinsky

Not One for the Money
“I do it for the fun,” says Mike Treadwell

W

hen he was a young man
fresh off the farm in Dalhart, Texas, Mike Treadwell
wanted to stretch his entrepreneurial wings by opening a restaurant. First, he opened an Alfie’s Fish ’n
Chips in Amarillo, then a Mike’s Fried
Chicken & Fish.
One day, a friend who operated a
nearby taco stand came over and asked
Treadwell about his food and labor
costs. “I said, ‘Heck, I don’t know. I’ve
got money in the bank so I guess I’m
doing okay.’ He said, ‘Oh Mike, you’ve
got to know your food and labor costs
if you’re going to be in this long term,’”
Treadwell recalls. “I thought at the time
that I wasn’t smart enough to do this.”
Deciding he needed to educate himself about the food and franchising business, he sold both of his restaurants and
moved to Little Rock to manage a KFC
restaurant for a franchisee.
That franchisee sold out to a bigger
franchisee, Scott’s Foods, and Treadwell
Name: Mike Treadwell
Title: Owner & CEO
Company: Treadwell Enterprises
No. of units by brand: 75

KFCs, 13 KFC/Taco Bells, 2 KFC/
Long John Silver’s, 2 Ruby Tuesdays,
2 HuHot Mongolian Grills
Age: 65
Family: Married to Marla, 2

daughters and 3 grandsons
Years in franchising: 25
Years in current position: 11

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Multi-Unit Franchisee Is s ue I, 2014