Fast food survivor: Remodeled Taco Bell re-opens

The Ashland Taco Bell is not making a run for the border, unlike other chain restaurants.

The local franchise re-opened at about 5 p.m. Thursday. Within minutes, taco-craving locals entered the restaurant. The local fast-food place opened after tearing down its previous building in April and rebuilding a newer, fancier one.

Photo by Amelia Wirts | Daily Tidings

Jan Sutherland has owned the local franchise since 1999. It outlasted Pizza Hut, McDonald's, Denny's and Dairy Queen, all of which closed in Ashland in recent years.

"Ashland is not friendly to fast food," Sutherland said.

However, she practices the same style of business in Ashland as in her other 17 Taco Bell franchises. Sutherland doesn't know why her business does so well in Ashland. She said it might be the senior citizen population, who traditionally likes the food.

The chain thrives here, but Sutherland said, "There're towns where Taco Bells don't do real well."

In Arcata, Calif., her Taco Bell did not survive. Sales were up. People loved the food, but broken windows and other vandalism ousted her business from the town. Sutherland considers Arcata a similar town to Ashland in its non-acceptance of chain restaurants. Ashland, however, welcomes Taco Bell. Sutherland said she pulled up the roots in Arcata.

"You hate to say it's an addictive flavor, but it is," she said.

James Twyman, a local author and singer, was one of Taco Bell's first customers since it tore down its old building in April. He munched on a seven-layer burrito.

"Maybe it's just an illusion, but it just seems a little healthier," he said. "Ashland tends to be such a health-conscious town. Just the idea of going to McDonald's seems kind of repulsive to me."

Twyman said his Taco Bell addiction started when he was a vegetarian. The traveling "Peace Troubadour" said he found the food did not have the same fried taste of other fast-food places. Now a meat eater, he still stops at Taco Bell first on his travels.

"For some reason, people think that Taco Bell's not quite as greasy and grimy as other fast food places," he said.

Answers to Taco Bell's success and other franchise failure are elusive. Ron Peil, the former owner of the Ashland Dairy Queen, is still baffled by the nature of the business. He sold his franchise to the People's Bank of Commerce last summer. It was not failing, he said, but business was slumping. Now, a new SONIC Drive-In in Central Point thrives selling similar food and ice cream.

"It's one of those things. You really don't know," Peil said. "They accept some restaurants, and others they don't. It's kind of hard not to take it personally."

Staff writer Alan Panebaker can be reached at 482-3456 x 227 or apanebaker@dailytidings.com.