Success Stories:
Ron and Christopher Johnson
Chris Johnson was just a toddler when his father, Ron, bought his first KFC restaurant. Now, 20-some years later, Chris is Vice President of Rackson Corp., and the family business has grown to 27 restaurants in three states. Chris works side by side with his father, who is President, on a daily basis. They own 25 base KFCs along with a KFC/Taco Bell and a KFC/Long John Silver’s. The restaurants are in their home state of New Jersey and in Michigan and Tennessee.
“My father and I have always had a good relationship,” Chris says, “and now that I joined him on a full-time basis three years ago, we’ve found something that we can share and develop together. And we’ve found a great company in Yum! Brands to partner with.”
Ron Jackson left a career in commercial real estate to find a business that one day he could turn over to his son. He first went to another restaurant franchise, but was put off by that chain’s rule that franchisees could own no more than three units. Ron was looking for growth and he found it at KFC. “They told him to build however many restaurants he could,” Chris said.
Ron built restaurants in New Jersey and then became an acquirer of company restaurants in Michigan and Tennessee. “We’re growing more by acquiring restaurants now than we are from building ground up,” Chris says.
As a high school and college student, Chris worked in the restaurants. “I remember my father telling me that the only thing that could limit our growth would be a lack of imagination – and imagination was not something we lacked,” Chris says.
Taking care of your people is a must for success, he adds. “We’re passionate about the people who work in our restaurants. We have a District Manager who started as a cook 20 years ago and recently we held a 20 year anniversary party for a lady who was my first boss when I went to work in the restaurant.”
Chris views Yum! as part of a big family with its franchisees. “So many of us in the business now are second generation and it impresses us when we go to conventions or meetings and get to interact with the President and the COO and marketing leaders. KFC is a fantastic brand and it’s a fun brand to be involved with.”
The U.S. restaurant business has been challenging lately, but Chris says franchisees cannot take their eye off the business. “What drives me is continuing to grow the business – taking this opportunity, really running with it and making it as big as we possibly can.
“I’m working to double the business and when we do that, I’ll work to triple it.”
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