Former NFL defensive end-turned Checker’s & Rally’s franchisee puts community first

If founders, chefs and other creatives are the beating heart of the restaurant industry, then franchisees are the veins delivering their ideas to all corners of the globe. Franchising is critical to the success of the industry, allowing brands to quickly scale their big ideas using other people’s capital. And whether it’s a mom-and-pop restaurant owner with one or two franchised restaurants or a seasoned veteran whose influence in the industry is well-known, franchisees — with all their individual attributes, styles, and personalities — make a huge impact on the success of a business.

In this week’s installment of Franchisee Spotlight, we’re featuring Donnell Thompson: a former defensive end for the Indianapolis Colts who turned toward restaurant franchising in his retirement from the NFL. After getting his start at McDonald’s, Thompson now owns nine Checker’s & Rally’s stores. We spoke about his transition from football to franchising and how crucial community activism is to his business. 

Store breakdown:

Nine Checker’s & Rally’s restaurants in the Southeast, from Alabama to North Carolina.  

Going from NFL to fast-food franchisee

“When I was playing in the NFL, I had two good friends and mentors that had franchises with McDonald's. I used to communicate with those guys quite a bit and go into their restaurants, and I got excited about the restaurant business […] After that, I applied for a plan with McDonald's on a training program that the company had probably 30 years ago. I applied with the possibility of becoming a franchisee in mind. I was successfully matriculated through that program and was very successful at purchasing my first McDonald's probably 20-30 years ago.

How he got into Checker’s & Rally’s

“Three or four years ago, I was talking to some friends of mine in the business and a couple of them had some Checker’s restaurants, and they were talking about some of the profitability that the company had, the simplification of the branding, and the small footprint. I am a developer, so that fit where I am right now. […] I had maybe half an acre of land left, so I thought Checker’s would be a good fit.”

Fitting in with Checker’s

“I liked that they have a team set up to work with you when you're getting ready to open and a team to train you. […] Chris McDonald is one of our development people. I can call her and she’ll respond back to me that night, because she because the importance of what we're doing and I can appreciate that. Many brands, when they work with people, they may talk down to you but Checker’s is just like […]let’s work together to get this fixed.”

Getting involved with community

“We always get involved with the community because that’s who’s going to be purchasing our food. […] In my hometown, at the same high school I went to, we sponsor their football team. Many times, we'll bring the football team in, and we'll have hamburger-eating contests and will raise money for them. After the game, the players eat free. We do some pregame lunches since a lot of the sports teams around here may not have enough money to do what's right by the kids. So, we'll step in and fill that gap […] for a lot of those kids that don't have the money and have a difficult time trying to be in sports and still taking care of their bodies.”

Helping during the COVID-19 crisis

“When COVID was causing a real difficult time with a lot of families, we fed the kids lunch free every day – didn’t matter if they were black, white, blue, or green, they could come to one of my restaurants. […] We just absorbed those costs because that was that was a part of us being a part of the community […] Sometimes, you might hear about somebody’s store getting broken into, but none of our stores do, because they are our community. We take care of them, and they take care of us.”

Goals moving forward

“We plan to build three restaurants a year for the foreseeable future. We’re not looking at other brands because I like Checker’s: they’re mindful of their franchisees’ costs and the return Oftentimes you don’t see that with other franchisors that are only concerned about the guest. […]  And we just acquired a piece of land in Selma, Alabama, and we have several other sites on contract.”