How An Old-Time Foodmaker Exec Showed His
Industry A New Trick

When Norman Brinker addresses 200 business administration students at San Diego State University on Nov. 13, it will be a triumphant return for the chairman of the restaurant chain that owns Chili's and other popular eateries. Brinker was the first non-fraternity student elected as SDSU student body president. He graduated with a degree in marketing in 1957.

    "I’m very excited about this. I was very involved when I was there," recalls Brinker. "It gave me a tremendous broad-based start in business."

    Brinker, the 66-year-old chairman of Dallas-based Brinker International, will deliver the L. Robert Payne Distinguished Entrepreneur Lectureship at the College of Business's Entrepreneurial Management Center.

    Brinker and Bob Payne go way back to when the two young men left Jack in the Box (Foodmaker Corp.) to create the Old Ox (then Jolly Ox) restaurant chain. Then, in 1966, Brinker founded the Steak & Ale chain, launching a new trend in casual dining. One of Brinker's innovative ideas was the now ubiquitous salad bar.

    Brinker, who counts the late Jack in the Box founder Robert O. Peterson as his mentor and role model, was named this year’s "most admired" in a survey of the top 150 restaurant chain chief executives.

    Brinker's career has taken him far from San Diego, and he doesn’t get back here often. In 1971 Steak & Ale was acquired by Pillsbury, and Brinker became an executive vice president and a board member with Pillsbury. Soon he was named head of Pillsbury's restaurant group, which includes Burger King, Bennigan's, Poppin Fresh and others. The second largest restaurant organization in the world, the group had more than 150,000 employees with sales exceeding $3.2 billion.

    But before long that entrepreneurial spirit took over once more. Brinker invested in and became chairman and chief executive of Chili's Inc., which he then pushed into high gear. In 1991 he changed the corporate name to Brinker International. The company now operates an array of food-oriented businesses including Romano's Macaroni Grill, On the Border, Maggiano's Little Italy and Corner Bakery. Chili's Too is being developed for airports, food courts and smaller venues.

    Brinker had a serious setback in 1993, when the former Olympic polo player fell from a horse and suffered grave injuries. For several weeks his doctors did not expect him to live.

    "So when I woke up I was totally paralyzed on my left side. But I used the principles that I laid out in my book, "On the Brink" (Summit, 1996, co-authored with Donald T. Phillips) and that we use at Brinker International."

    Brinker assembled a team of doctors, nurses and therapists, set a goal of regaining the ability to walk within two months, then laid out a concrete plan of how that would be accomplished. Brinker arrived home without a wheelchair, crutches or a cane, two full days before the deadline. Though Brinker still has nerve damage that makes certain motions difficult, most of the time he has no visible limp.

    During his recovery, one of his executives, Ron McDougal, ran the company. Since then Brinker has named McDougal CEO, but Brinker remains chairman of the board.

    This year Brinker International will do about $2 billion in sales, but the company, which once grew at 20 to 30 percent per year, has had slower growth.

    Although Brinker says the company will open 120 new properties this year, many of them in Europe and Asia, the percentage growth-rate of a start up company cannot be maintained. Brinker is proud that every year for 28 years, his companies have grown.

    Theme and casual-dining restaurants must continually rejuvenate their image, and over the years it has become a crowded and competitive segment of the restaurant industry. Because Brinker has been able to attract top level executives, and because of their accumulated experience, he is positive that his restaurants will remain at the forefront.

    "Bob Peterson was a tremendous mentor," Brinker explains. "He taught me principles that worked. I’ve used them and embellished them all of my life."

    Among those principles? Employees should be full participants in the business, helping to set and carry out all kinds of policies from quality control to rules for absenteeism. Additionally, taught Peterson, employees should be respected and tangibly rewarded for their contributions.

    Not only is Brinker still striving to follow those principles in his own business, he is back at his alma mater, serving as a role model, mentor and inspiration to all the young entrepreneurs who may very well be his future competitors.

    Janet Lowe is author of several investment books, including "Value Investing Made Easy" (McGraw Hill) and "Warren Buffett Speaks" (John Wiley & Sons).