Mike Ilitch built his reputation as a feisty businessman with a flair for promotions as owner of Little Caesars pizza and two of Detroit's beloved sports teams.

Few would think of Ilitch as an impulsive, heart-on-his-sleeve kind of guy.

Ilitch offered a Little Caesars pizza franchise to Sgt. Robbie Doughty, 30, of Paducah, Ky., after reading a USA Today report about him last fall. Ilitch was moved and wanted to help the war veteran who lost both legs in a roadside bombing in Iraq.

Ilitch said Doughty's sense that his injuries were not the end of the world impressed the founder of one of the nation's largest pizza chains.

And it reminded Ilitch of his own fork in the road when his minor league baseball career was cut short by a knee injury.

"To make a long story short, I couldn't get a job," Ilitch said Tuesday. "I'll never forget how hard it was for me to get going. I wanted to help ... and express some gratitude for what he did for his country. I'm lucky to be in a position like that to help people."

Ilitch cofounded the Little Caesar Enterprises Inc. pizza chain with his wife, Marian, in 1959. The Ilitch family controls Ilitch Holdings Inc., the $900-million organization for Little Caesar, Detroit Tigers, Detroit Red Wings and other Detroit business interests.

Ilitch traveled to Doughty's hometown of Paducah on Friday to help him find the perfect site to open a Little Caesars.

Doughty said talking to Ilitch the first time was "unreal. Here's this guy who owns the Red Wings and the Tigers, and I thought this guy is huge, obviously," he said. "He said, 'I'd like to do something for you and your family and your future.' ... We are very fortunate to have Mr. Ilitch come down here and take a personal interest. That was part of his personal commitment to me.

"This is really from the heart, and I don't think it has sunk in yet."

Doughty, a former Army recruiter, volunteered for duty in Iraq after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He was sent to Iraq in June 2004. A month later, he lost both legs -- one just above the knee and one below the knee -- in the bombing.

He went to the Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C., for surgery and rehabilitation. Four months later he was able to walk with prosthetic legs.

Doughty returned home with military honors including the Purple Heart and Bronze Star medals after an 11-year career with the Army along with two years in the reserves. He is in the process of leaving the Army.

Doughty, who still deals with pain from his amputations, continues his recovery. He had his Ford F-150 pickup truck retrofitted so he can drive with modified foot pedals. He's walking without a cane now and is busy with his son Derek, who will be 2 in October. He married Krissy Anderson in May and is building a new house to accommodate his wheelchair.

He is to arrive in Detroit next week for franchisee training at Little Caesars headquarters. His partner in the franchise, Lloyd Allard, 43, of Clarksville, Tenn., has been working for three weeks at a Bloomfield Township Little Caesars to learn everything from making pizza to ringing up orders. The pair hopes to open the restaurant by the end of the year.

Neither Doughty nor Ilitch would talk about specifics on the financial arrangements. Little Caesars franchisees usually pay an initial $20,000 fee and an ongoing 6% of gross sales. The company estimates the cost of building a new store is $109,000 to $299,000. It also requires franchisees to have a net worth of $180,000 with a minimum of $60,000 in such liquid assets as cash, the Little Caesars Web site shows.

Privately held Little Caesars has 3,085 locations across the country with $946 million in annual sales, according to Nation's Restaurant News. It is the fourth-largest pizza chain.

Doughty said Ilitch's generosity would probably not sink in until he opens the first Little Caesars in Paducah in 10 years. Another franchisee that had two restaurants in the city retired and closed the restaurants. Doughty and Allard hope to eventually open several Little Caesars restaurants in the area.

The International Franchise Association has made helping veterans get into franchises one of its top priorities this year, said spokeswoman Amy Bannon.

"The reason, beyond giving something back to the veterans, there also is a practical reason for franchisers to work with veterans," she said. "Veterans tend to be very good franchisees. They usually have a history of being a leader in a system, are more disciplined and more mission-oriented. That is the kind of franchisee you want."

Source: Free Press
Author: Greta Guest