Here’s Your Hat, What’s Your Hurry?
Taco Bell is run from one of those sparkling glass structures that sprouted in clusters in South Orange County during the last boom. Reflected in the office tower’s green tinted walls are blue skies--and the tinted walls of neighboring office towers. Everything about the place is clean, well-maintained and suggestive of wealth: At the corner bus stop, the kiosk billboard advertises a Mercedes-Benz dealership.
The 1,000 or so people who work inside this building are the wizards of marketing and menu who built Glen Bell’s taco stand in Downey into, to quote from a corporate press release, “the nation’s leading Mexican-style, quick-service restaurant chain.” They are the folks who devised methods to reduce, quoting the company material again, “order processing times to under 30 seconds” and developed the “K-minus” concept, transforming kitchens “into assembly line areas utilizing prepared ingredients.” Yum.
These are the big idea people, the bean trust. “What is the value of a big idea?” Taco Bell CEO John E. Martin mused recently for the benefit of a Times reporter. “In our case, a big idea could add $600 to $700 million in sales in one year to our business.”
The context in which Martin pondered this question is interesting. In the same interview, Martin spoke to Ann Conway of The Times of this “decision I have to make . . . a tough decision.” In simplest terms, the decision is whether to up and move Taco Bell’s corporate headquarters, the bean trust, to something called Plano, Tex. His “druthers,” Martin went on, “would be to stay in California.”
But. . . .
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In this game Martin is playing, there always is a but. Taco Bell has become fabulously successful here, but Texas is offering so many incentives. California is a great place to recruit big idea people, but Texas is talking about cheap land and multimillion-dollar tax breaks. Loyalty is fine, but bidness is bidness.
In the past few weeks, Taco Bell executives have met with a succession of California politicians and business leaders. Pete Wilson is on the case. So is Willie Brown. Just what California can deliver for Taco Bell is not clear. There is this problem of a looming budget deficit. And it seems the recession hasn’t gone away yet. And also there was this big earthquake in Los Angeles--although it did not seem to inflict any damage to the glass towers down here.
Taco Bell executives won’t say what exactly they want. They have circled the public relations wagons, shooing reporters out of the building, recycling old press statements that promise a decision soon but, beyond that, say nothing. It is said that some California officials who made the pilgrimage here were required to promise in writing that they would not disclose any details of the discussions.
“There are all sorts of different things they are asking for,” said one official familiar with the discussions. Like tax breaks. And relaxed car-pooling requirements. And tax breaks. And maybe some help with locating a site for a new headquarters. And, of course, tax breaks. “Taxes seem to be pretty important,” the official said.
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Those involved in trying to keep Taco Bell here believe something greater is at stake than a glass tower filled with fast-food wizards. One thousand jobs in a 14-million job economy are, in the abstract, insignificant, but losing a corporate headquarters to another state is seen to have great symbolic weight. As the Irvine Chamber of Commerce president put it: “Taco Bell’s is a pivotal decision. If they leave, we’ve lost a major effort to retain somebody. If they stay, we’ve got a major win that we could use to anchor down others.”
Well, perhaps. Another way to look at it is this. There are many reasons that Taco Bell has thrived in California. Population, location and lifestyle are but three. These reasons remain. And while the business climate might not be perfect, it was good enough to put Taco Bell on the fast-food map. No, if Martin believes Texas is a better place to run his fast-food chain, so be it. Here’s hoping he gets good Cowboys tickets.
The greater danger here is not in losing the bean trust, but in playing the game in the first place. Appease Taco Bell today, and expect a knock on the door tomorrow from Carl’s Jr., or Jack in the Box, or Del Taco. What is given to one in a bidding contest must be given to others, especially those who slugged through the same rough times without holding a gun to anyone’s head.
The symbolism, too, can cut both ways. Outfoxing grabby Texans might be fun, but there’s something about letting a fast-food taco chain dictate terms to the state of California that doesn’t quite sit right. In fact, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth. And write your own punch line.
