Walker Center for Global Entrepreneurship Blog

Pink’s Hot Dogs, one of the landmarks in Hollywood, and one  of the oldest Hot Dog centers, still has the unique ambience which many other fast food restaurants seems to have lost. We had a chance to meet Mr. Richard Pink and his wife Ms. Gloria Pink at their restaurant in Los Angeles a couple of days before. They hosted a wonderful dinner for us. And they even had a special hot dog for Thunderbird. I first thank them for that amazing evening we had at Pink’s.

Talking to Mr. Pink was perhaps one of the best opportunities to know about a person, who is so successful in his business and still has been a very honest person with his opinions and principles. Pink’s hotdogs was started in 1939 by his parents. It was a small place to begin with, but slowly caught up to the attraction of the clients in Los Angeles and also with some major celebrities of Hollywood.

Mr. Richard Pink himself was initially involved in real estate business. But when he was selected to succeed his father in running the business, (apparently at Pink’s the family decides who will succeed the administrative responsibilities.) he brought some innovative ideas along with him, but did not harm the continuum. They still maintained the signature snap in their Hotdogs, and Mr. Richard himself added new varieties in the menu. The ambience has not changed much, and customers still wait in the line for hours to get the hotdog. The service by the employees has been very good, which has effected in customer satisfaction. The compassion that they have shown on their employees has been amazing. Both Mr. Ricahard Pink and Ms. Gloria Pink know the employees very well. The staffs get weekly bonuses, something unheard of in other places. They also get to retain the income made by recycling. Mr. Pink says this is an incentive to keep the place clean.

On being asked about expansion, Mr. Pink mentions although they have franchises opened up in some locations, they have not ventured into setting up branches, as they feel they will lose the uniqueness. He was still being skeptical and conservative when it came to establish Pink’s as a chain of restaurants. The pricing of this unique Hotdogs is also affordable. They have not brought much change in the prices and they have added some unique confectionaries to go along with the hot dogs. Mr. Pink also gives high credit to his wife, Ms. Gloria Pink for the cause of branding. She has worked hard and done some good travelling to make this brand so popular in Los Angeles and amongst the Hollywood celebrities.

We Tbirds wish them the best of luck in their in their business and it will remain as unique as it is. It was great to know about Mr. Pink and to learn the way a restaurant is to be run.

Ramkumar Ganesan (1460530)

MBA Candidate, 2013

Posted: 01|22|12 at 12:28 pm.
Filed under: Miscellaneous.
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