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we're blazing new trails no one has ever done what we're doing we are bringing barbecue across the country. This hyperbolic bluster,

typical of the asshole executive class, is proudly trumpeted by chain restaurant kingpin

Roland Dickie Jr. on his own website. The current steward of his family's eponymous smoked

meats chain, Dickie Jr. made the remarks in a 2010 interview with

D CEO magazine. Surprisingly, the D stands for Dallas, not douchebag, in which the Nepo Baby,

back ribs, executive also promised, quote, world domination, one store at a time. Founded in Dallas

in 1941 by Roland's grandfather Travis Dickie, a World War I veteran who actually worked at least a single day in his life,

the family business is the oldest still operating restaurant in Texas's largest city.

And for the vast majority of its existence, the company seemed content being exactly that.

It didn't begin franchising until 1994, and when Roland took the reins in 2006, it had just 20 area restaurants.

But the young Dickie Jr. insisted on a strategy of aggressive worldwide expansion, opening dozens of new franchises across the continent every year, peaking at 564 in 2017.

However, as rapidly as it grew, the balloon deflated. The very next year,

2018, 113 of those locations shuttered. And it's only gotten worse since the pandemic.

According to a December 224 piece in restaurant business by Jonathan Mays, quote,

28% of the chain stores have closed just in the past 18 months.

...