Posted on Sun, Jul. 16, 2006
7:49 pm | Hooters owner Bob Brooks is dead
DAVID POOLE
[email protected]
Bob Brooks, 69, the chairman of the Hooters restaurant chain, was found dead in his home Sunday morning in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
The cause of death was not immediately known. Brooks had diabetes and had recovered from a stroke suffered more than 20 years ago.
Brooks was a Methodist family man who grew up on a farm without electricity or running water in the Sweet Home community near Loris, S.C. But thanks to his acumen in the food-service and restaurant businesses his estimated net worth was over $500 million at the time of his death.
Mr. Brooks graduated from Clemson University and made several large donations to that school. He also gave $2 million to Coastal Carolina in Myrtle Beach to help its football program. The school named its new stadium after Brooks.
He started a food services company called Eastern Foods that sold non-dairy creamer, mainly to airlines. It later began selling a line of salad dressings and its name was changed to Naturally Fresh.
Brooks became an investor in the Hooters chain shortly after it began with a beach bar in 1983 in Clearwater, Fla. Eventually, he wound up buying out the group of original partners.
Today, Hooters of America has over 300 restaurants in 43 states and 19 countries. In 2003, it posted more than $750 million in revenue.
"Good food, cold beer and pretty girls never go out of style," Brooks told Fortune magazine in 2003 to explain the success of the Hooters chain.
Brooks, who lived in the Dunes Club community in Myrtle Beach, created the first Myrtle Beach-based airline, Hooters Air, in 2003. At its peak, Hooters Air flew to 15 destinations. But it racked up debt, and earlier this year the airline stopped commercial flights. It now operates charter flights only.
Brooks' companies sponsored Alan Kulwicki's team when Kulwicki won the Winston Cup championship in 1992. On April 1, 1993, Mr. Brooks' son, Mark, was killed along with Kulwicki and two others in the crash of a Hooters-owned plane that was attempting to land at the Tri-Cities Airport at Bristol, Tenn.
Since 1995, Hooters has been the primary backer of a minor-league racing circuit known as the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series. The circuit races at several tracks in the Carolinas, including Hickory Motor Speedway, Concord Motorsport Park and Myrtle Beach Speedway.
"Whenever I saw him, the first question and usually the last question from him was, `What can I do to help ya?' '' said Brad Dean, president of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.
Funeral arrangements for Brooks were incomplete Sunday and are being handled by Hardwick Funeral Home of Loris.
