George Naddaff is the man behind much of the success of restaurant chain Boston Market. Starting with meager beginnings in Boston, in 1930, Mr. Naddaff enjoyed the typical ups and downs that entrepreneurs face to become the founder of this large restaurant chain.
The original Boston Market hit home with consumers, mostly female at the time, by offering a healthier alternative to Kentucky Fried Chicken: rotisserie chicken, steamed vegetables and corn bread. There were many competitors to Boston Market, known as Boston Chicken at the time, like Chicken Outs and Chicken Expresses. But none could hold a match to the business mind of George Naddaff has he flipped the switch and went franchise.
200 sold franchises and $42 million in revenue later, the company went public — the highest IPO in Wall Street’s history at the time. Boston Chicken was a huge success. This was 1993 and George Naddaff had sold Boston Chicken a year earlier.