Glen Bell was 23 when he left the Marine Corps.in 1946. World War II was over, and the economy was switching to peacetimepursuits. In five years, business would be booming and fast food along with it.
Glen came home to the sleepy agricultural town of San Bernardino, certain thatfamilies would be in the market for the recreational activities that disappearedduring the war. He first thought of a miniature golf course, but after facing hisfinancial situation, he went to work on something more the size of hispocketbook, a hot dog stand. Bell's Drive-In was the name of that first stand, andGlen learned the business as he went. His next unit would only be large enoughfor one person to operate and strictly take-out.
In 1952, he sold the first stand, and began to build a perfected version. Themenu would be hamburgers and hot dogs. As he began building his second, theMcDonald brothers started their first unit, in a strange stroke of coincidence,also in San Bernardino. Glen became increasingly interested in the idea ofalternative menu items. He was an avid Mexican food take-out customer, and assuch, was well aware of the hang-ups in ordering tacos to go from a full-servicerestaurant. "If you wanted a dozen," he recalls, "you were in for a wait. Theystuffed them first, quickly fried them and stuck them together with a toothpick. Ithought they were delicious, but something had to be done about the method ofpreparation."
"My plan for experimenting with tacos," he says, "was to obtain a location in aMexican neighborhood. That way, if tacos were successful, potentialcompetitors would write it off to the location and assume that the idea wouldn'tsell anywhere else."
So Glen searched out a good location in the right part of town on a busy mainstreet. He began by selling various hot dogs, including a chili dog. He formulatedthe chili dog's sauce himself and it would later become our taco sauce. At thesame time, he researched tacos. The shells had to be prepared quickly andefficiently. They had to be fried first and stuffed later. He had seen a crudeversion of a deep fry basket for tortillas made from stainless steel.
"It was very experimental, but I went ahead and had someone make one for me.We hadn't thought about using wire yet, so we came up with a heavy stainlessversion which stayed very hot and fried one at a time." The idea for the firstcommercially fried shells would be picked up by the manufacturers of packagedshells now widely available in markets.
Glen experimented until he was satisfied with the taco ingredients andproportions. The next issue was how to introduce them. There wasn't room fornew items, or to diversify the menus in the little stands we built then, so I decidedto sell 19 cent tacos from a little window off to the side," he says. "I'll never forgetthe first taco customer because naturally, I was really concerned about hisreaction. He was dressed in a suit, and as he bit into the taco the juice ran downhis sleeve and dripped on his tie. I thought, 'we've lost this one,' but he cameback, amazingly enough, and said, 'That was good, I'll take another one!' "
Bank financing for the fledgling fast food industry was still out of the question. Sowith tacos selling well, and Glen ready to open a second stand in Barstow, it wasno coincidence that he added shakes to the menu. A local ice creammanufacturer offered financing in exchange for carrying their product. Barstowwas a ways away and Glen was busy in San Bernardino. So he promised youngEd Hackbarth that he would eventually lease the stand to him if he would moveout to Barstow and run it. Ed took over the stand, and later was to build his ownas the founder of Del Taco.
With tacos selling so well, it was time to put in a stand completely dedicated tothem. Financing was still a roadblock, so Glen took a partner in order to be surehe was in a position to follow through with more stands when the idea took off.Between 1954 and 1955, he built three Taco Tias in San Bernardino, Redlandsand Riverside.
John Gallardi was commissary manager for the El Tacos. Later Glen talked himinto starting out on his own. Martha Bell, Glen's wife, provided a name for thenew enterprise, "Der Weinerschnitzel," and helped John develop the menu."There was rivalry in a way between John and I after the Weinerschnitzels tookoff," recalls Glen, "but it was the most positive kind. Every time I thought aboutslowing down and enjoying what I had, I'd look at his place, and the othercompetition, and I just couldn't let them overtake me."
So when Glen's partner was not in favor of expanding the Taco Tia's into LosAngeles, Glen sold him his interest in the restaurants. "It was 1956, I was 28 andwe had three restaurants that were making $50,000 a year each. But I waswilling to give them up to grow. It bothered me that we would slow down andothers would move in. I had a great idea and I wanted to be the one to takeadvantage of it."
Glen bought two lots, but a recession had hit and Glen feared that constructioncosts would stretch his finances dangerously thin. At that time he recalls, "theL.A. Rams trained in Redlands where we had a Taco Tia. They liked the food.They'd order a dozen tacos and stand out at the counter and eat them. We reallybecame kind of a hang-out for them, and as it turned out, my very first franchisewas the Taco Tia two of them bought in Los Angeles. They were football heros,and their enthusiasm was exciting."
"So, when I was on my own again and strapped, I didn't really want morepartners, although I liked the guys, but the recession worried me. So, I formed apartnership with four of them." The restaurants called El Tacos turned out to begold mines.
"We put in a commissary geared to run 100 units, and in 1958, in spite of a lot ofnewly acquired overhead, we did well. Our first Long Beach location had beenopen only nine months, the second six, and the last only a month or two. Eachpartner was drawing a salary and we had new commissary and office staff.There shouldn't have been any profit, but in that nine month period, we came outwith $3,000. At the first meeting of partners I was really high," recalls Glen. "Butit's tough to share a dream. We were off to a great start, but I've always beenindependent and was ready to launch out on my own."
"I sold the El Tacos to my partners and built the first Taco Bell in Downey in1962. Bank backing wouldn't become possible until we went public in 1966, so Ioften borrowed money on a private basis. We opened eight small Taco Bellunits in the Long Beach, Paramount and L.A. areas. They were very basic, butthey're still operating today. Competitors cropped up from time to time.Winchell's became associated with Taco Fiesta at one point, and they built fouror five restaurants.
Kermit Becky, a former L.A. policeman, bought the first Taco Bell franchise in1964. His luck was to inspire many future sales. The restaurant, located in whatappeared to be an inconspicuous industrial location at the intersection ofCarson and Western in the South Bay area, did tremendous volumes from thebeginning. Prospective owners clamored for restaurants when they learned fromBecky himself that it was not uncommon for him to clear $10,000 in one month.
It was clearly a new era for Glen Bell. No longer was it a case of providing theenergy determination and belief in an idea until it took off . Now, it was a matterof running a large company. "Once we got up to 100 restaurants, it changed forme. I hated the day when we had to start numbering the units.The businessissues became financial, we had really won the war as far as I was concerned.The stock market began to smile on fast food, and we were on the road tosuccess."
"I had started Taco Bell in 1962 with 40 shares, each worth $100. It was entirelyheld by the family. In 1969, in order to go public, we had to split that stock30,000 to 1. It just shows that we had no idea how big things would get."
In 1975, Glen tendered his resignation as Chairman of the Board. Three yearslater, he sold Taco Bell's 868 units, to PepsiCo, Inc. The deal was some sixmonths in the making and ended with Glen Bell a major PepsiCo shareholderand millions richer.
In 1977 the first international unit opens in Guam, and in 1984 Taco Bellreplaces its original mission-style restaurants. Drive-thru windows are alsoinstalled.
in 1988 Taco Bell launched the value initiative, lowering the price of new itemsand introduced Free Drink Refills. It also began the three-tier pricing strategywhich remained the core of the value offering through 1994.
In 1991 the Taco Bell establishes the Express business to achieve its vision ofproviding Taco Bell food "wherever and whenever people are hungry." TacoBell's compact carts, kiosks and in-line units begin appearing in airports, gasstations, retail stores, cinemas, stadiums, schools, etc.
In 1992 Taco Bell responds to the needs of the ravaged, riot torn Los Angelesby building and re-opening one unit in only 14 hours. "Now thats fast!"
In 1995 PepsiCo Restaurant International (PRI) is the global management unitfor the Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut international business.
In October of 1997 Tricon Global Restaurants is founded. Also that year, TacoBell introduced its new multi-spot advertising campaign featuring the populartalking Chihuahua, and TacoBell.com was born.
In 1998 Taco Bell, widely recognized for introducing the exciting taste of Tacos,Burritos, Fajitas, and Wraps, introduces yet another distinctly different productinto mainstream America, The Gordita.
In April of 1999 Taco Bell received The Grande EFFIE, one of the mostprestigious awards in the advertising industry. Later that year Chalupas andGrande Meals are added to Taco Bell's zesty menu.
In May of 2000, Taco Bell celebrates its three-year association with America’sPromise – The Alliance for Youth, has resulted in a nearly $6 million donation tothe Boys & Girls Clubs of America (B&GCA), and the opening of 51 newTEENSupreme Centers at Boys & Girls Clubs nationwide. Later that yearDIGIMON joins forces for an exclusive Kids Meal Deal, and Taco Bell introducesthe Cheesy Gordita Crunch.
