Businessman goes from ski slopes to Golden Arches

James Vance went from the ski slopes to the Golden Arches and hasn’t looked back.

Vance, 48, owns eight McDonald’s franchises in Southern Nevada and serves as president of the McDonald’s Greater Las Vegas Operator Association, the cooperative of those who own 110 franchises in Southern Nevada.

It’s not a career Vance envisioned when he was younger. He owned a ski shop before embarking on a career with McDonald’s.

“For me skiing was my life growing up, and I thought I would be a professional skier or end up in the ski business because I loved it so much,” Vance says.

His life changed because of his wife, Krista, whose family has owned McDonald’s franchises since 1972. When Vance graduated from college, he considered going to business school and earning a master’s degree but pursued another education instead.

“We decided together we ought to pursue McDonald’s and get a real-world MBA instead of going back to business school,” Vance says. “We thought that was a great opportunity for us. Her family opened the door for us because they have stores in Arizona and two brothers who are in the business now in California. It’s kind of a big McDonald’s family. We all operate separately but there’s 40 restaurants in the family now.”

Question: When did you start with McDonald’s?

Answer: We started 20 years ago when we bought our first franchise in mountains in Colorado and grew our restaurants through the corridor down toward Denver and Evergreen. We were there about seven years and we sold those and came back to Nevada.

Question: Why the move to Las Vegas?

Answer: It was like coming back home. I actually went to UNLV for the first part of college and my family moved here in 1984, and my parents still live in Summerlin. My dad (Robert Vance) is a retired doctor (in family practice). I have a brother (Robert) who’s a doctor (of internal medicine) and lives in Summerlin. With family here, it was an opportunity for me to move back home and for Krista to get closer to her family in Arizona and California we love Southern Nevada ever since been here since 2003.

Question: How did the move from Colorado come out business wise?

Answer: We sold our five in Colorado and bought six here to start and we opened a couple more since where we have eight now.

Question: What was the last one you opened?

Answer: The newest restaurant opened a year at 3885 Blue Diamond Road close to the Silverton. My wife does a phenomenal job decorating. Every time I’m in here I am blown away how nice the décor and colors are. We have this huge chandelier in the lobby which sometimes you don’t expect from McDonald’s. The concept was to put our stamp on how we see McDonald’s in the future and creating a little more upscale environment.

Question: What’s it like to own a McDonald’s?

Answer: When I was younger, I had no idea how extensive this was. When Krista and I pursued our first franchise, we trained in Arizona for three years and went to Hamburger University in Chicago. It’s a really extensive operation. You have to work very hard to get into it, and you have to go through a lot of screening before you can be approved to own a franchise.

Question: How difficult is it for someone to own a McDonald’s?

Answer: It’s tough. It’s not as easy as you think because the process of training at a minimum is two years and you need to have the resources to put down on your first franchise. You typically have to show liquid assets up to $1 million to buy a franchise. Even if you get approved into the program to buy a McDonald’s, it may take you two years while you work with no pay going through training learning about the McDonald’s system.

Question: It’s been tough lately for McDonald’s and some others in the fast-food industry. What’s the state of the business in light of all of the competition?

Answer: McDonald’s since about 2002 has been on an unprecedented run, and we have had so much success. Now, I think we’re going through a cycle where our sales have softened a little bit and our competition has gotten a little bit tougher because a lot of them have followed and copied what we’ve done in upgrading restaurants and adding new menu items.

That blueprint was copied almost exactly by a lot of our competitors and you can say competition got a little bit tougher and smarter and we have hit some high-water marks in terms of sales and cash flow and now we’re relooking at our brand and seeing where we can improve and how can we make it better. We have done a lot of things over the years by adding great tasty menu items like Chicken McWraps. Our burgers are as better than ever but the competition is getting a lot of focus so I don’t think we get the credit for the burgers that we deserve.

Question: Has the health push hurt the fast food industry and companies like McDonald’s?

Answer: There is a misperception to be healthy you can’t eat fast food or you can’t eat at McDonald’s and that’s absolutely not true. I was raised on McDonald’s and so were my kids to a large extent. It’s the same then that it is now. You have balance your diet. You have to eat well and you have to exercise and get off the couch and watch what you eat.

Question: What’s up with the competition and its impact on McDonald’s?

Answer: Some of the other brands right now like Chipotle have become a tough competitor. I think people enjoy that kind of customization and that’s a lot of what we’re trying to do now – get it the way you like it and make it the way you like it. People enjoy that. The competition has gotten tougher but McDonald’s has an incredible following. We are the biggest and best for a reason, and we have a lot of brand love out there. We are going to keep looking at how we can improve and get better and stronger. … We still crack fresh eggs in the morning. I take my friends back there and they’re surprised by that.

Question: What is your competition?

Answer: Our competition set hasn’t changed over the years. Our newest competitors are some of the higher priced burgers and higher priced meals like Chipotle. Some of the burgers that are $8 to $10 seem to be pretty popular right now.

Question: There’s been a push to raise the wages of fast food workers across the country. What do you think about that?

Answer: There is a lot of talk about the minimum wage. I remember when I got my first job growing up in Utah I started at minimum wage as a dishwasher in a Japanese restaurant. It is something that exists and always exists and will continue to go up over the years, and that’s fine. We pay our employees well over minimum wage.

Question: What are your wages?

Answer: Our starting point as a crew member here is $8.25 but our average wage is closer to $9.50.

Question: How long have you been president of the association?

Answer: I have been president for two years of our cooperative. There are 25 franchisees in Las Vegas. Some of them are spouses and second- generation children. There are 18 different organizations that own and operate the franchises here, including our corporate partners who have a handful of stores as well.