BLACK CULVER’S FRANCHISEE OPENS FIFTH CHICAGOLAND RESTAURANT

Baron Waller is the owner of five Chicagoland area Culver’s restaurants. He recently opened a location in Ravenswood and is set to open another in Pullman. Photo provided by Brian Berg
Baron Waller is the owner of five Chicagoland area Culver’s restaurants. He recently opened a location in Ravenswood and is set to open another in Pullman. Photo provided by Brian Berg

 Black Culver’s Franchisee Opens Fifth Chicagoland Restaurant

BY TIA CAROL JONES
     Baron Waller owns several Culver’s Restaurant franchises in the Chicagoland area. His first was in New Lenox. He said a positive experience at the Culver’s in Lansing was what peaked his interest in owning the Wisconsin-based restaurant known for its ButterBurgers and Cheese Curds.
     “I was just awed by the experience itself. I kept coming back, I brought my wife there, I brought my brother there, and I got that same experience. And, I said, ‘hey, I should open one of these,’” he said.
       Waller said at first, Culver’s gave him options of places near the southern suburbs to open. He opened the New Lenox location because it was available. He said he really pressed them to open in Chicago. “I wanted to open in Chicago and I picked Bronzeville because I used to live in Bronzeville,” he said. “I picked Bronzeville, I really wanted to be in one of our neighborhoods.”
     Waller, who worked at IBM for 14 years, said it was a big transition from the corporate world to owning his own business. He said it was his motivation towards getting out of the corporate world and do something on his own. “I really felt I had a lot to give. Not just working and doing one thing, that I could do more. This was the way I chose to go ahead and do more. Because I knew about marketing, I knew about finance, I knew about operations. I knew about all these things.     This was a way of doing all of those, and not just do one thing,” he said.
     Waller opened the Ravenswood Culver’s, located at 1819 West Montrose Ave., in late May. There was a hiring event for the location for 40 to 50 jobs.
     The Pullman Culver’s, located at 111th and Doty Ave., is set to open this year. He also has plans to open a Culver’s on the West side, Southwest side and in downtown Chicago. He said he also is open to having locations in South Shore and in Calumet Heights.
     He added, he has plans on trying to grow Chicago and what’s really important to him “is that we go into communities” where Culver’s don’t go. “Bronzeville is one, Ravenswood is another, I’m going on the West side because I feel it is important that we go into our neighborhoods, too, that we go into Black neighborhoods. They need jobs, too.                 Everyone needs to work, and this is just my way of helping. You open a business, you hire people, get people to work,” he said.
    Waller said there are not many minority or Black franchise owners. He said you can count them on one hand. “That’s also part of it, too.         Sometimes we’ve got to be a part of it, to make change. You can’t just keep pushing from the outside, sometimes we’ve got to push from the inside,” he said. “That’s another responsibility for me is to bring more Black people in.”
      Waller said he has partners in his Miami franchise, as well as in the Pullman franchise who are minorities. Waller said the restaurants are doing really well. He credits that to the Culver’s brand.
     “That experience I had going into that Culver’s store, those are the same kinds of experiences I want to display in my restaurants. I want people to feel they have a positive experience when they come in, to keep them coming back. And, I think we’ve been successful, we’ve been doing a good job and they’ve been coming back,” he said. “Our objective is not just to give them food but to give them a positive experience when they come to our restaurants.”

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