Rise of the Golden Arches
When Columbia’s first McDonald’s opened at 205 Business Loop, customers would walk up to the storefront and order their burgers and fries under the golden arches. At that point in history, the restaurant only employed men, and there was no inside seating.
“Our customers can still remember [Leonard] peeling potatoes in the basement,” says Mike Morgan, who currently runs that location. He’s the grandson-in-law of Leonard J. Scheffler, who first brought McDonald’s to Columbia in 1959.
It was the 171st McDonald’s in the entire world and was handpicked by Ray Kroc, who expanded McDonald’s from one shop in San Bernardino, Calif., to the American staple it is today. This May, Morgan plans to rebuild the Business Loop location from the ground up. “But we’re going to do some things to keep that location nostalgic for the community,” he says.
Fast food family
When Scheffler decided to expand, he had two natural candidates to take over his franchises: his children Lyn and Leonard P. One month after Morgan married Laura, the daughter of Leonard P. and Mary Sue, the couple took over their half of the business, with some hesitation.
“We didn’t really know what we wanted to do with our careers,” he says. “But the more we talked about it, the more we thought it was a good idea.” After the third time her parents had asked if they wanted in, the couple finally said yes. They now also own the McDonald’s on Smiley Lane and Clark Lane, as well as the one inside the Walmart on Conley Road.
Lyn and Doug Mehle sold their stores, too, to their son, Mark. When Mark Mehle graduated from college, he didn’t know if he wanted to go into the family business.
“I think it was necessary for me to work in a completely different environment to really appreciate being my own boss,” he says. He now owns the McDonald’s on Nifong and another on Stadium Boulevard by the mall, in addition to restaurants in Kingdom City, Mexico, Ashland, Boonville and Fayette.
On any given day, you’re likely to find either man behind the counter in one of their stores, taking orders and passing trays to a hungry lunch crowd.
Unlike their parents, Morgan and Mehle had to follow a different method to rise through the ranks. “Their parents learned from the ground up, but for them it was a real possibility that they wouldn’t get approved,” says Lili Vianello, public relations liaison for the area McDonald’s restaurants. Both men had to attend Hamburger University in Oakbrook, Ill., at the McDonald’s world headquarters to get approved before acquiring the stores they have now.
In the end, as Scheffler once said, “With McDonald’s, you’re in business for yourself but not by yourself.”
Franchising charity
Both of the men, like their parents before them, are involved in Ronald McDonald House Charities of Mid-Missouri. Morgan was board president from 2010 to 2011, and Mehle’s wife, Kate, currently serves on the board.
“For a town of our size with roughly 100,000 people, [having a Ronald McDonald House is] really special because there are a lot of towns of our size without one,” Morgan says. In this way, among others, the two continuously give back to the community.
“The perception is that these guys have it easy and the local restaurants are the ones struggling, but they are local restaurants, too, because they are locally owned and operated,” Vianello says.
If you ask Morgan and Mehle if they expect their kids to carry on the tradition, they’ll say, “Come back in 25 years, and we may have an answer for you.”