Harold Pierce was an African-American entrepreneur who founded the successful Harold's Chicken Shack

Harold's Chicken Shack

Harold's Chicken Shack is a chain of fried chicken restaurants located primarily in Chicago, particularly on its South Side. Harold's has been a Chicago South Side institution for many years and is known for its uniquely prepared chicken...

 restaurant chain in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

.

Pierce was born in Midway

Midway, Alabama

Midway is a town in Bullock County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 457.-Old Merritt School:Margaret Elizabeth Merritt of Midway sold two acres for $5 to the State of Alabama in 1921 as a site for an elementary school for African-American children...

, Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

 and moved to Chicago in 1943 from Freemanville, Alabama

Freemanville, Alabama

Freemanville is an unincorporated community in Escambia County, Alabama, United States near Atmore....

 to work as a chauffeur

Chauffeur

A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine.Originally such drivers were always personal servants of the vehicle owner, but now in many cases specialist chauffeur service companies, or individual drivers provide...

 for Jack Stern, a furniture store owner. By 1950, he was running a small restaurant with his wife, Hilda, on 39th Street. The H & H specialized in chicken feet and dumplings. Pierce thought that he could adapt his recipe for fried chicken, and a friend, Gene Rosen, who ran a poultry shop nearby, offered him some chickens to experiment with. The resultant recipe caused Pierce to open Harold's Chicken Shack at 47th and Greenwood in 1950.

He franchise

Franchising

Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....

d the idea out to friends and family who opened additional Harold Chicken Shacks throughout Chicago. One of Pierce's stipulations was that they purchase their chickens from Rosen. Otherwise, Pierce didn't interfere with the management of the stores, which led to deviations in the techniques, flavors, and qualities of the product as well as variations in the menu from one restaurant to another.

After retiring in the early 1980s, he moved to Beaverville, Illinois

Beaverville, Illinois

Beaverville is a village in Beaverville Township, Iroquois County, Illinois, United States. The population was 391 at the 2000 census.-History:...

, where he indulged in a passion for raising hunting dogs.

Pierce died in Kankakee, Illinois

Kankakee, Illinois

Kankakee is a city in Kankakee County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 25,561, and 26,840 as of a 2009 estimate. It is the county seat of Kankakee County...

 of prostate cancer

Prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...

 in 1988. His second wife, Willa, took over running the business and began expanding it outside of Chicago. Willa died on January 21, 2003 in Beaverville.

External links

• Sula, Mike. "The First Family of Fried Chicken", Chicago Reader, April 14, 2006.