Here's what I remember about how Papa John's was founded. John toiled in his dad's bar for three years before he hired my father, Billy Joe Lee.
Joe, as his friends called him or Billy Joe if you knew him well.
Joe opened and trained for Pizza Hut during their expansion in the 70s. He made enough money to buy a franchise. He lost it in a divorce and mom later lost it to alcoholism.
Fast forward, dad is down and feels out so he takes the first job offered after a two year hiatus.
I'm 18 and working at McDonald's. My dad's on my ass to help him.
In a year I helped Bill opened 11 stores. My father was out celebrating after hitting record sales. Someone else drives home because he was too drunk to drive.
I get a call saying dad was in a wreck. It was the other drivers fault. While in bed waiting to go to surgery to repair his heart. John fires my father for letting someone else drive the company truck.
My father was paid $500 a week for a year, then fired. My family were the guerrilla marketing soldiers that blanketed Louisville in the late 80s with coupons.
Other firsts from Bill Lee in the pizza industry. Salad bars, video games and the pizza coupon. He called it a "Dollar Bill."
He photocopied a dollar with his picture. The police did not think it was funny at all.
I would go with dad to spy on the competition. We'd track their delivery times, and steal their trash for the delivery receipts with the addresses. We then sent them a 50% off letter.
During the day we'd hit the guerrilla style marketing passing out coupons and talking to business owners and residents. Then when it got busy at the store we'd head in and make a ton of pizza at night.
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Posted
Aug 12 2015, 03:28 PM
by
PTSD: A Soldier's Perspective