The Big Cheese: Owner of several McDonald's restaurants knew his path at 19 - and talked his parents into coming along

It's not every day that teenagers help choose career paths for their parents.

But that's what D.J. Britt of Kernersville did when he announced one day in the fall of 1987 that the family's future was in Big Macs and fries.

"Sell everything you've got, and let's get into this business of McDonald's," Britt said to his parents.

At the time, he was 19, a student at N.C. State University and a crew employee for a McDonald's restaurant at Woodcroft Shopping Center in Durham.

His parents lived in Lumberton, where his father, Dickie, was a department-head manager for Westpoint Pepperell Inc., and his mother, Margie, had a job with the Social Security Administration.

"The brand and the company had such an impact on me that I said we could do this," Britt said.

And he had seen how well family friends Paul and Pat Willoughby of Durham were doing as McDonald's owners and operators.

After some discussions, Britt's parents went for his idea. The couple sold their house in Lumberton and moved to Durham in 1988, where they lived in an apartment while Britt and his father worked their way up through McDonald's management-development program.

Today, the Britt family is among several local McDonald's operators. D.J. Britt is now married and has three children. He and his wife, Terri, own and operate four McDonald's restaurants. His parents, who now live in Raleigh, have five, all in Forsyth, Surry, Stokes and Davidson counties. It is not unusual for one family to have a large number of McDonald's restaurants, a spokeswoman for McDonald's said.

The elder and younger Britts operate as a family unit.

"There is no his or hers or us or them," Britt said. "It's all a family-owned business, and that's the way we treat it."

In April, Britt was one of 32 winners of McDonald's Golden Arch Award. Less than 1 percent of McDonald's owners and operators get this honor. The award is given for focus on customer service, outstanding commitment to quality, value for customers' experiences, significant community involvement and contributions to the success of the brand.

Britt is humbled by the award but calls it a family award and is uncomfortable talking about himself without stressing how important his family and employees are to his success.

Involved in sports all his life, he is a believer in teamwork and a family environment when it comes to sports and McDonald's.

"It takes all of us collectively to be successful," he said. "It's not just any one person. It's all of us together."

Still, Britt has some idea why he was chosen as one of McDonald's top franchise operators.

"I'm very passionate about ensuring that I do my part to see this company succeed," he said. "Anything that we can do to provide our customers with a better visit to our restaurants ignites me."

Jeff Wilfong, the operations vice president for the McDonald's Raleigh region, which includes Forsyth County, said that Britt is very involved in McDonald's regional activities -- leading operations teams and being involved in the McDonald's Regional Leadership Council of operators for the Raleigh region. Britt is also the operations leader for McDonald's east division, which consists of eight regions on the East Coast from the northeast to Florida.

"He's one of those guys who gives his time up pretty unselfishly to help his fellow operators out, to help the system and to really help us as a company figure out different initiatives or things that we're going to do to drive the business," Wilfong said.

But Britt doesn't look for honors nor go out of his way to bring individual attention to himself.

"When you go in his store and give him recognition, he goes and grabs the store manager and pulls them out in the lobby because they are the ones getting it done," Wilfong said.

Community work is also important to Britt. For example, he is a member of the board of the Winston-Salem Ronald McDonald House and sponsors ball teams in Winston-Salem.

During his college years, he was constantly bombarded with peer pressure. Most of his college buddies just didn't understand his passion for the fast-food chain, especially when they were ready to go out on weekends. These friends questioned him about why he had to close up at night and why he wanted to work at McDonald's of all places.

"Honestly, I had a dream," Britt said. "I knew where I wanted to wind up, being an owner-operator."

His best friend, James Salter, who is now an optometrist in Clayton, never gave him a hard time.

Salter said that Britt has always been a positive person, very team-oriented and always a leader, even in sports.

"And he surrounds himself with good people," Salter said. "A lot of that comes from his family background. His parents are very supportive people."

He said that his friend is a family man who spends countless hours dedicated to his wife and children, a genuine and fun people person, the kind of man who enters a room and is known by everybody there by the time he leaves.

Margie Britt said that her son gives his all in everything he does in life, that there is no challenge too big for him.

"As a matter of fact, that's what drives him," said his father, Dickie Britt. "He loves a challenge. Failure is not an option."

McDonald's restaurants have changed quite a bit since Britt started in the business.

Restaurants such as the McCafe, which his parents own on Reynolda Road in Winston-Salem, now feature double drive throughs, specialty drinks, soft seating, Wi-Fi and wide-screen TVs.

McDonald's is now pushing into the specialty-coffee business.

"In terms of the lattes, cappuccinos and specialty coffees, those will be in every McDonald's domestically over the next couple of years," Britt said.

Plans are to eventually offer smoothies and a variety of bottled beverages.

Part of the change is to keep up with competitors. In Winston-Salem, for example, there are nine Starbucks locations and a slew of mom and pop and regional coffee shops.

Britt said that consumer research showed that the company needed to move in this direction.

"You have to keep up and meet the demands of customers' needs because they are always changing," he said.

He declined to say how much he has invested in his restaurants or disclose sales, but he said that the route that he and his parents followed years ago has been very successful for them and their employees.

On average, McDonald's franchises can bring in sales of more than $2 million a restaurant a year, depending on what operators put into their business in terms of sweat equity, a company spokeswoman said.

McDonald's calls it a partnership of McDonald's support and help with brand recognition and the owner and operators' involvement with the business and their personal connection with serving customers.

Margie and Dickie Britt are simply grateful that their family has been able to live the American dream. They have no regrets about following their son's advice years ago.

"You take the risks and sometimes the rewards are not there," Dickie Britt said. "There are no guarantees in life, business or anything else. We believed in him and he believed in us. We rolled the dice, so to speak, took that risk, and the good Lord has blessed us."

■ Fran Daniel can be reached at 727-7366 or at fdaniel@wsjournal.com.