Colonel's landmark KFC is mashed
On Tuesday, that first KFC restaurant in the world was a pile of rubble, the familiar sign bearing the colonel's smiling face upside-down atop it. But by early August, KFC will be reborn on the same spot as a restaurant and museum that will tell how those buckets of chicken came to be sold at nearly 12,000 restaurants around the globe, generating annual sales of around $10 billion.
"The building served its purpose for many, many years," said Tracy Gingell, owner and manager of the historic restaurant, 3890 S. State. "We wanted to upgrade it and build a modern KFC there. We wanted it to be attractive for our customers."
Still, Gingell said seeing the building come down Tuesday tugged at his heart.
"It was quite emotional," he said. "I've been married 3 1/2 years, and I met my wife there. I've got two kids that work there, and my wife's sister. . . .We had customers who'd been coming in for 50 years, some who had met Colonel Sanders and Pete Harman. They'd tell us stories of wedding breakfasts they'd had there and first dates. It's incredible, the loyalty of our customers."
The new restaurant will pay tribute to that history, KFC officials said Tuesday.
"We're definitely proud of our heritage in Utah," said James Jackson, chief financial officer for Harman's KFC Corp., based in Los Altos, Calif.
It's an oft-told story how Sanders, an acquaintance just passing through Salt Lake City, persuaded Harman to let him serve a chicken dinner at his burger joint. Harman in turn invented the now-iconic paper bucket. For $3.50, he filled them with 14 pieces of chicken, mashed potatoes, rolls and gravy and struggled to keep up with customer demand.
"It's memorabilia that helps people remember KFC's roots in Utah," Jackson said.
Even some of the first franchise's original pressure cookers will be on display. Of course, now the pressure cookers are computerized. "Everything is regulated so it ensures the quality product time after time after time," Jackson said.
Recent comments
This is Utah were little has been saved. KFC is a great example of...
Anonymous | May 9, 2009 at 9:11 p.m.
I used to work at a Fire Station just a little north west of the...
SithFan | May 9, 2009 at 9:08 p.m.
At the original Pete Harman's KFC [39th So. State St., So. Salt...
Richard Hardy | May 9, 2009 at 8:42 p.m.
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