The remaining link in the Chicken Magician restaurant chain is located in a former bank branch at the end of a small Hackensack shopping plaza, next to a Rite Aid and a few doors down from a launderette. A native of Ukraine is the owner.
Revenues, said Joseph Pekarsky, have been static while his overhead has been dynamic. He no longer pays franchise royalties, but poultry prices, utilities and rent have increased dramatically from opening day in 1993.
“Last month my profit was zero,†said the proprietor, describing the results of December. A 10-percent price increase is planned, the first in two years.
Chicken Magician was unlike many franchisors, whose rigid policies and procedures are contained in libraries of three-ring binders.
Pekarsky had little contact with the head office, located in Red Bank. He did not buy his food through them. He did not know the date when this store became the sole survivor of a chain that never had more than a dozen links.
“Three, four years ago?†he guessed with a shrug.
Pekarsky’s entry into the chicken business was not planned.
“I had no choice,†he recalled on a Saturday afternoon while standing behind a deep fryer. “If you have a family, you have to feed them.†Full post.