February 2014
| Business World Magazine | 55
“We want our associates and our franchi-
sees to be passionate about the business and
the concept, and to have a desire to be with
people,” he says. “This is a people business
and we happen to sell food. Introverts don’t
seem to be successful, or, if you’re an intro-
vert by nature, you need to have the outgoing
sort of people working with you. If Warren
Buffett called me tomorrow, the first ques-
tion I’d ask him is ‘Who is going to operate
the restaurant?’ and if he couldn’t give me an
answer, I’d ask him to get an operations part-
ner secured, then we could talk about Hoot-
ers.”
In terms of markets, Whittle says, Hoot-
ers is predominantly looking at places with
populations of at least 100,000 or 125,000
with an upper-middle income base, a high
preponderance of daytime activity and a
strong residential base surrounding the site.
In addition, Hooters prefers sites that are
within close proximity to regional malls, the-
atres and/or sports arenas to help drive eve-
ning and late night traffic. Some of the most
successful Hooters restaurants are located in
the hearts of large downtown areas.
HOOTIE GETS A FACELIFT
"We turned 30 last year so we joked that it
was time Hootie got a facelift," Whittle says.
