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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 28, 1986)
Tuesday, October 28, 1986/The Battalion/Page 3 State and Local ng Chris'v, ch as tl 'nal integiitii ious to tht[:, porary socitj not the nr.>f ausedlhett. ' ‘ :hild in the.,| imentalists 190 burgers add up to profit r local restaurant owner \rchie'Archambault runs fast-food empire By Bob Grube Staff Writer but ; , I Everyone knows the name, ’ ln er ''l»knovv the face of the man behind separatefi0j| e hamburger sign. The name :nie” Archam- E.C. "Arc ■ afraid tOMiolgs to plays anir ault. leedtobeJ Afchie is living pr point A(te;. , H r ' can dream of hard work and r. "Hprofits is alive and well in Col- . the fetation. )n intheMA|chie, about 30, is the local self- ial and ir;;-™, fast-food mogul. He owns (in ationofdi. f rtn, ' rs h'P) three Taco Bell restau- iust incor ints ' in< ^ two Httmbtirger res- mrams. Mchie has the look of an adult pous Ui! -holever quite grew up. His 5-foot- hard, andyinch frame, elfish face and wide ion theyMiillbelie the fact that he is the king e Unitedy -f College Station fast food. He That w bI more a brother than a OSS, He native of Richford, Vt., came lism maion':® I exas ' v ’fi en he J ouie d the Air ,• J pee in 1967. ‘ pWlicn 1 joined the service, they f Hne I’d see the world and then !' Hue to Texas,” Archie said. “I jdn’t mind, though, because I like ' UJ je warm weather.” After serving in San Antonio, he ■stationed at Bergstrom Air H Base in Austin, where his sladonship with Taco Bell began. ^/J | feivorkea as a night manager at the ‘aco Bell on Burnet Road, which Hne of the first in the state and .u re first in Austin. .J "[used to hitchhike from the base 1 ) the restaurant, which was about ■ Hies away,” Archie said. “After nong tlie:«Uta year, they gave me the store ged buj'-fl 1 jr n White, which was a little niul( loser to the base.” After he got out of the service in 071, he bounced around Austin amper wilhMftring several Taco Bells. In h is the:' 974, he became a general manager Mhad a hand in opening about 15 IVehaie. , "' lells ' n our lie :: and oui i rnlHHicr' In |975, he had the op ibuy into the Taco Bell inort unity franchise, and he chose to start his business in Bryan-College Station. "I wanted to go to a town that was growing, and Bryan seemed to be doing just that,” Archie said. “I opened the restaurant on Texas Avenue when nothing else was there, just pasture land. “It took about three years for the E lace to turn a profit. After that, it ecame the busiest restaurant in the chain.” He said that since there were no other fast-food places around the Taco Bell on Texas Avenue, it be came a hangout, and that led to some problems. “That first Taco Bell had fights al most every weekend night,” he said. “There were several times when the “One night after a high- school basketball game, a bunch of tall people came into the Taco Bell and stole all of the menu boards above the counter. We were so busy, we didn’t notice it until we closed. ” — Restaurateur Archie Archambault entire place got torn apart.” Late-night eateries are sometimes targets for holdups, but Archie says he has only been held up one time, and that was in Austin. “It was early in the morning, when it was still kind of dark out side,” Archie said. “This guy came into the store wearing a trenchcoat and he walked up to the counter and opened his coat and he asked me if I knew what was wrapped around his body. It was several stick mite. sticks of dyna- “He beat me up, unplugged the phone, took the money and threw me in the walk-in cooler. Then he left. I was able to get out of the cooler in time to see what he was driving. "About a week later, a guy came into the store who I thought was the guy who had robbed me. He was even driving the same kind of truck the other guy drove. I called the po lice and they came and arrested the man. “As it turned out, the man wasn’t the same one who had robbed me and he sued me for false arrest. Luckily, it was thrown out of court.” Since the first Taco Bell, Archie’s fast-food empire has grown by leaps and bounds. After opening two other Taco Bells, one in downtown Bryan and one in College Station (which be came the busiest store in the Taco Bell chain), Archie decided to try his luck in the hamburger business. He opened his Harvey Road 39^ Hamburger Place in 1984 and it was so successful that he opened another one in Bryan. Archie said he sells about 10,000 burgers in a good week. Anyone who has eaten at this fast- food mecca for the late-night crowd knows that extra ketchup costs 2 cents per package. Archie said he’s not being a skinflint but is simply trying to Keep from losing money. “The hamburgers cost me about 28 cents apiece, so I don’t make much money on them,” he said. “The ketchups cost me 3 cents apiece, so I would be a fool to give away something I’d lose money on.” For many people, a night on the town is not complete without a stop at the hamburger place, but Archie said this leads to many drunken cus tomers. “I don’t mind the customers being drunk,” Archie said, “but I have to draw the line somewhere. When they start bothering other customers Photo by Bob Grube “The hamburgers cost me about 28 cents apiece, so I don’t make much money on them,” says E.C. “Archie” Archambault. or harassing my employees, some thing has to be done about it.” Archie said he has had to call the police several times to escort drunken customers out of the res taurant, but he rarely pressed charges. He said that is changing now. “The police get kind of mad when they come all the way out here to haul drunk people out of here and then find out no charges are being pressed,” Archie said. ”‘I guess they feel it’s a waste of their time. I can see their point.” Archie said he also has a problem with vandalism and pranks. “One night after a high-school basketball game, a bunch of tall peo ple came into the Taco Bell and stole all of the menu boards above the counter,” Archie said. “We were so busy, we didn’t notice it until we closed. Archie said pranks like that used to be a part of staying open late, but that people need to recognize that pranks cost every business money and that, with the slumping econ omy, pranks won’t be tolerated like they used to be. While it seems that everything Ar chie touches turns to gold, he de votes a lot of his time to local organi zations. He is on the board of directors of the Crimestoppers program and the local chapter of the Better Business Bureau. He also is a member of the Texas Restaurant Association and the local chamber of commerce. And he’s a big Aggie fan. “I love the Aggies,” Archie said. “I don’t miss a home football or basket ball game.” Although he has never attended college, Archie said his love affair with Texas A&M started in Austin while he was in the Air Force. “The military guys didn’t get along with the teasips,” he said. “We used to go downtown and get in fights with them all the time.” He started with 39-cent hamburg ers and has added pancakes and faji tas to his menu. What’s next? “I can’t tell you. It’s a secret.” Whatever it is, it’s almost sure to be a success. Turner won’t debate Lewis in Precinct 4 race By Olivier Uyttebrouck Staff Writer Rodger Lewis, Republican candi date for Brazos County Commis sioner Precinct 4, challenged incum bent Commissioner Milton Turner to a debate Monday, but Turner said he will not meet with Lewis as a mat ter of principle. “I don’t debate,” Turner said Monday evening in a telephone in terview. “I don’t sling mud. I just run on my issues.” In a public letter, Lewis chal lenged Turner to appear with him before a civic group at a place of Turner’s choosing anywhere in Bra zos County, between now and the Nov. 4 election. “You also have refused to answer questions from the local newspaper or television reporters,” the letter said, “making it impossible for voters to evaluate your position.” Turner said he and his staff are always responsive to any questions the press has for him. “He (Lewis) doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Turner said. “Whenever they (the media) want to get in touch with me, I respond to it.” Turner also objected to Lewis’ holding a press conference near the front entrance of the Brazos County Courthouse Monday morn ing. “I don’t think it was right for him to bring it (the press conference) up on the court lawn,” Turner said. At the press conference, Lewis criticized his opponents unwilling ness to debate. “I’ve already appeared at several candidate forums and the only one of those that he (Turner) chose to attend was at his own church and even there, he walked out without much discussion at all,” Lewis said. Lewis also said at the press con ference that if elected, he would propose the creation of a student intern position, to be paid out of his salary, to serve in the 4th Precinct County Commissioner’s office. alters art h| .it the apan itill slap®T roaches. I 11 a bug hi a of bread oil tnder it m o down ik? over iti m has goti::| • Are von i? enter M :e at night cj sledgehar? ectriccc»?| id butane®! • Have I are and : j for your 1(4 poker cfcl lutside to-i Freshman & Sophomores Oct. 6-Oct. 31 have any pet! tw e madet hamster^ shephenM ates keep pty boxe: s and Vatii-f you, 100,181 take attic' take ittotkj ill for dti«| ugh. epingiM efooted. nhand.. jorjouro Policy -If-suppM®!" A&M lal/on aK C* ' il -ctssanlt ftp® ., triton ^jphy ciastfs ond.? ■cplfrl,''!** aer tverroing'® 1 '' 216 RttilNf* 1 ation,TXnW.. rf LCgtSuWI'.') Freshmen and sophomore photos for the 1987 Aggieland will be taken from Oct. 6 until Oct. 31 at AR Photography, 707 Texas Ave., across from the A&M Polo Field. Jnivtra? ColW’ 7