In the last couple of days before the Fuddruckers restaurant opened at Legends at Sparks Marina last week, there was little of the last-minute frenzy that generally accompanies efforts to get a restaurant into operation.
Its owner, Luther Mack, may be 69 years old, and the restaurant may have come out of the ground in 90 days probably a record for one of the hamburger chain's locations.
But Mack also is a former Marine Corps drill sergeant who doesn't put up with excuses from contractors, employees or anyone else.
Mack is looking to replicate the success he found in 35 years of developing the McDonald's franchise in the Reno-Sparks area. He built 11 restaurants in the fast-food chain before selling them in January.
The McDonald's franchisee, Mack Associates, one of its executives and one of its former executives had pleaded guilty to charges that the restaurants knowingly hired illegal alien workers, but McDonald's executives said the sale of the stores wasn't related to the immigration charges.
In his new role with Fuddruckers, Mack holds the development rights for northern Nevada.
"I wouldn't want to compete with anyone else," he says. Two Fuddruckers stores operate in Las Vegas.
The company estimates that the costs of opening an individual restaurant range from about $1 million to about $1.5 million.
The 6,000-square-foot, 240-seat store that opened at Legends is larger than most in the 230-restaurant family dining chain headquartered at Austin, Texas. The restaurant's decor includes historical photos of Sparks as well as University of Nevada, Reno, themes.
The Sparks location employs about 70.
Mack, who didn't want to retire after selling the McDonald's locations, was alerted to the Fuddruckers opportunity by a longtime friend, comedian Bill Cosby, and Cosby's management team.
Although Cosby appeared at the store's opening last week, he's not a partner in the restaurant.
"The fastest way to ruin a friendship is by going into partnership," says Mack. "Partnerships don't work for me."
Although he's experienced in the restaurant business, Fuddrucker's represents a late-career departure for Mack.
"This isn't fast food," he says, noting, for instance, that the Fuddruckers location includes an in-store bakery.
And while he's learning a new business and promising that he'll stay close to daily operations, Mack says he isn't motivated by the potential for profit.
"I love the people. I love the community. I love to stay involved," he says.
