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From Poverty to Poultry: How two young African Americans turned a ma and pop chicken shack into a multi-million dollar business.

October 19, 2007 // Franchising.com // Founding Owners Tom Walker and Mike Stapert Wing Heaven Restaurant made a decision in 2004 to pursue The American Dream of owning their own business. Childhood friends came from humble beginnings in Grand Rapids, Michigan to a more difficult path of franchising their dream. Revitalizing urban areas across America and creating opportunities of empowerment for themselves and others has become a reality in just three short years. In fact, to date, owners have given away franchises at The Virginia Black Expo 2007 and will again in Jacksonville and Charlotte Black Expos sponsored by Thomas-McCants Media.

Today this partnership has led to over 100 jobs, seven franchisees, three corporate stores (mall location, college campus, historical district) and several deals in the pipeline including:
10 store multi-unit deal in Richmond, Virginia
20 store multi-unit deal in Detroit, Michigan
Retailing their own brand of Kool Aid and Barbecue Sauces

Embrace Diversity: Although Wing Heaven is proven to work in various types socio economic areas, owners remain true to the Hip Hop model set forth by Mogul Russell Simmons. "We know that the hip hop culture starts first in the urban areas and steam rolls into the suburban areas, therefore we believe that it is vital to establish ourselves in urban areas where other national chains aren't focusing on. This gives us an edge because we don't focus on one segment, but embrace diversity as our foundation", says Stapert, "being adopted by a White family and growing up in a urban area, gives me a different perspective than most, I know that at the end of the day we are all the same searching for peace, family values, honest wage, and hopefully a relationship with our creator".

The Beginning: Mike and Tom initiated their dream with a Colbert Ball Tax franchise in 2003. Shortly after their first successful season, young entrepreneurs had squandered all of their earnings by summers end. "We were fortunate that our families supported our idea of owning our own business, however we were not prudent in saving our money" says Walker, CEO. They soon realized that they needed to augment their tax income during the summer months. The following year they started a little chicken shack and called it Wing Heaven. "We invested all of our money from the tax business and fried chicken everyday for months, sometimes 10 – 12 hours a day while only able to pay our employees and keep the lights on while debt was accumulating quickly", says Stapert, COO.


Over the Hump: And then a breakthrough came through football of all things. Nearly giving up on all the hard work in the kitchen frying wings day after day, they encounter a peak in sales during football season. "We knew that football and wings go together no matter where you live or what ethnicity you are, so with a little bit of begging local editors to try or wings, we received great reviews in the local pres just in time", says Walker. "Before we knew it, we were stacked with long lines, catering and delivery orders that forced us to ask our family members to help us keep up with the demand – it was a blessing and painful at the same time, I never worked so hard in my life", says Stapert.

NFL Player Partnership: What irony - NFL player, Kelly Butler of the Cleveland Browns has joined the team and is now a full partner. "When Kelly called Mike and me, I was shocked to hear that Lions ordered our wings from our Detroit locations. Kelly wanted to be apart of our team and for us it was one of the easiest decisions we had ever made, claims", Walker. Stapert adds, "we have had many people approach us wanting to buy us out or become a partner, but when we met with Kelly, and heard his passion for his community and youth, we knew that he was a quality person, partnering with Kelly was a perfect fit".

National Attention: After placing an ad in Black Enterprise talk show host and Kings of Comedy, Steve Harvey contacted Tom and Mike and invited them to New York for an interview. Soon after the interview Wing Heaven was nominated for The Hoodie Award, Best Fried Chicken Place. "After national media attention, the phones began to ring and our website nearly crashed due to the amount of traffic. As we continue to seek strategic partnerships, we remain humble and true to our upbringing. We have no choice but to be humble because we know that this is a blessing from above alongside our hard work", says David Rhodes, VP Business Development.

For Television: Owners would be privileged to become apart of a wing preparation tasting segment featuring the 17 sauces and Kool Aid.

Wing Heaven is based in Michigan with seven franchisees, three corporate stores and several locations in process. The company was founded in 2004 by Mike Stapert, COO and Thomas Walker, CEO out of necessity to augment their Colbert Ball Tax franchise during the summer. They soon realized that Wings have become an entrée and was forced to expand due to the demand. Wing Heaven features 17 specialty sauces and an assortment of Kool-Aid flavors. Other principals include Kelly Butler, Cleveland Browns and David Rhodes, VP Business Development.

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