Frater's Entrepreneurial Venture Turns 25 Years Old

CLEARWATER, Fla. - It has been 25 years since Hooters founder Frater Ed Droste (Epsilon, Iowa State Univ.) stood on Gulf to Bay Blvd. in Clearwater, Florida in a chicken costume to attract customers.

"You do, what you got to do. It was a little joint, traffic was blowing by and we didn't have a big budget. I think I had a sign 'Hooters is unfair to chicken,'" said Frater Droste.

The six friends who started Hooters got the name from a Steve Martin joke.

"He said (Steve Martin), 'There are three things you should love in life and one of those were hooters,'" said Frater Droste, who also considered the name "Ed's Place."

Not everyone has been in love with Hooters. In 1995 the Employment Opportunity Commission tried to force Hooters to hire men as servers.

Now with more than 20,000 Hooters girls and restaurants around the globe, Hooters has become established. To celebrate their 25th anniversary, Hooters is offering give-a-ways every 25th of the month.

Read more about Frater Ed Droste in the Fall 2006 edition of THE TEKE Magazine.

Adapted from Hooters Media Release. If you would like to see your chapter news here, contact Communications Coordinator Tom McAninch.