Business

History of the Company
The opening of the first Hooters Restaurant was done in 1983 in Clearwater, Florida and was called Hooters of America, Inc (Boyer and Kathleen). The six pioneers of Hooters were all businessmen friends who had totally no concept regarding the running of restaurants. Nevertheless, they came together and the concept of Hooters was conceived on 1st April 1983 (the April Fools Day). According to one of the partners, Gil DiGiannantonio, the Hooters pioneering group was a team of guys who found it tiresome always visiting fern bars and really needed a change-the Hooters (Boyer and Kathleen).  Currently, Hooters runs and franchises a chain of casual restaurants which feature waitresses commonly referred to as Hooters Girls. It was not very easy at the start the six friends had to go through Clearwater Beach in the effort to find very attractive girls who had an interest of becoming the pioneering Hooters Girls.

The founding partners worked in specialized divisions which can be said to be the determinant of Hooters success. Prior to forming Hooters, DiGiannantonio was the companys sales representative for liquor distribution while L.D Stewart and Dennis Johnson were general contractors (Boyer and Kathleen). Another member was Kenneth Wimmer who worked for Johnson and Stewart before he chipped out to start his individual paint business. Ed Droste, who owned and at the same time acted as a chief executive of a business for resort development was one of the six members who came up with the idea. After retiring from Florida as the owner of a service station, William Ranieri formed the sixth member of the group. By that time of inception, Stewart held the majority of ownership of the Hooters Company (Boyer and Kathleen). In January 1984, the company gained from what can be termed as free publicity. This was the time when Tampa hosted the NFL Super Bowl involving the Washington Redskins and the Los Angeles Raiders (Boyer and Kathleen). The then star, John Riggens, who was running back for Redskins, had lunch at hooters a day before the game. After the game, John Riggens retuned to Hooters with his members of the team for a midnight nibble. This created a lot of media attention which led to Hooters increasing the sales from 2,000 to about 4,000 per night (Boyer and Kathleen).

The franchise rights and expansions of Hooters of Clearwater, Inc. were officially sold to Robert H. Brooks and a group of investors in Atlanta in 1984 and that formed the modern Hooters of America, Inc. (Business week) The Hooters of Clearwater was awarded a 10  of Hooters of America and additional 3  royalties on the total sales of Hooters of America. It was also the responsibility of Hooters Clearwater to design the menu and the general design of the restaurant. Hooters Clearwater had also retained the right to establish Hooters restaurants in counties of Pinnellas Hillsborough in Florida (Boyer and Kathleen). In just two years, Hooters had grown to have nine restaurants in Florida and an additional two in Atlanta. In 1986, Hooters again received free publicity when the soviet national team came in Tampa to fight the Americans. This event was covered in the Tampa Tribune where a Russian boxer was pictured in full color eating chicken wings together with a Hooters Girl standing next to him wearing a tight fitting Hooters T-shirt.

Brooks became the chairman of Hooters after buying the majority control of the company. Under the leadership of Brooks, Hooters Clearwater and Hooters of America grew to 425 stores around the globe (Business week). Unfortunately, Brooks died of a heart attack in July 2006. Before his death, the Hooters Casino Hotel was established on 2nd February, 2006 in Paradise, Nevada off the Las Vegas Strip in the US (Boyer and Kathleen). Nature Of Business Operations and Controversies The main business concept of Hooters of America was not based on foods or drinks as what might be mistaken from the statement that pointed out that the chicken wings were typical to Hooters while McDonald was known for hamburgers. The Hooters restaurant concentrated in hiring young attractive women who served as waitresses and were often dressed in orange running shorts that were designed to fit comfortably (Boyer and Kathleen). The girls also wore white tank tops or T-shirts bringing out the natural female sex appeal. The girls were encouraged to chat with the male clientele mostly and this was the reason behind the business success of the Hooters. Celebrity appearances by the Hooters Girls during sporting and charity events also helped increase the publicity. The girls also appeared in calendars, billboards, trading cards and a glossy Hooters magazine which featured the girls swimsuits and all their wears including the evening clad (Business week). The girls were expected to keep a prom-like look with their hair, nails and general makeup neatly done. The Hooters girls were also expected to develop a positive outlook with a sparkling character and have the prettiest smile in the whole world. Hooters of America also provided that the Hooter Girls, in addition to serving foods, were important in providing entertainment which granted that the restaurant get exempted from obeying the equal employment laws (Business week). These provisions came in response to the claim that the Hooters was not gender sensitive on employing men waiters but exclusively hired females. The men were only employed as cooks and in management positions despite much criticism from the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the male subjects over equality in employment.

The Hooters of America which was privately owned in 1996 operated a total of 57 restaurants and also franchised 135 restaurants. A total of 65 percent of the revenues generated was derived from food sales while 30 percent obtained from the sale of wine and beer (Boyer and Kathleen). The hooters merchandise accounted for 5 percent of the total Hooters revenues. The 5 percent revenue from the merchandise included the trading cards from the Hooters Girls. Hooters was ranked the 75th largest food service chain in the whole US according to Restaurants and Institutions (Boyer and Kathleen). The Hooters of America was ranked as the 11th in position among the concepts of casual, dinner-house restaurants.

Hooters continued to receive controversies over its name, the employment nature and its general operations. For instance, in Mexico, the company was accused of corrupting the values of Mexicans by introducing their sexy image and the name hooters into the Mexican culture. The introduction into Mexico came as a result of the Agreement of North American Free Trade when it was enforced.

The operation of Hooters has not changed girls are exclusively employed as waiters while men are considered for other jobs like bar assistants and managers and the pioneering spirit of Hooters is maintained by all standards. However, Hooters continues to face fierce competition from Buffalo Wild Wings, Metromedia Restaurant Group and Carlson Restaurant (Business week).