The Past Few Years
2006
During 2002, a cause close to our hearts came to the attention of the entire system, when longtime
Hooters Girl, Calendar model/centerfold, and Hooters manager, Kelly Jo Dowd, was diagnosed with breast cancer. We continue to fight the good fight alongside Kelly Jo, donating money, time, and effort toward eradicating this dreaded disease, and, at the 2006 10th Annual Miss Hooters International Swimsuit Pageant, HOA presented Kelly Jo and her family with a check, pledging a million dollar grant toward research at the “V” foundation. Kelly Jo’s daughter, Dakoda Dowd, a young golfing phenomenon, made headlines in 2006 when, as a 13 year old, she qualified for, and played in, the LPGA tournament in order to fulfill her mother’s wish to see her play in a professional golf tournament.
Viva Las Hooters! Always ones to gamble on a good time, the Hooters Six retained the rights to open a casino in Las Vegas. If you haven’t been to Hooters Casino Hotel, just off the strip on Tropicana, then you haven’t been to Vegas, baby. This casual, fun alternative to the giants on the strip, HCH brings a whole new unfussy element to Sin City, and compared to some, a little decorum, too. What?!? Decorum at Hooters? You check us out! You’ll soon see why we call ourselves, “The Cure for the Common Casino.” For you NASCAR fans, you’ll have to make a stop, because Hooters Casino Hotel is the proud owner of the actual car that Alan Kulwicki raced in the ’92 Winston Cup race to become champion. Don’t miss it!
Finally, after 23 years, your local Hooters has grown up enough to serve liquor! Wild and crazy, huh? After much debate (we love liquor, we love it not, we love liquor, we love it not, we love liquor. . .), it was decided that, given the fact that liquor was experiencing a phenomenal comeback (did it ever leave?), we should give the people what the people want. Well, we couldn’t give them that, so we decided to serve liquor instead. You look like you could use a drink, why not stop by Hooters today?
And the food is good, too!
And speaking of food… Hooters Foods expanded their food line to include frozen versions of our world famous wings and strips and buffalo shrimp. Guess what? They’re good! You can find these awesome items in the freezer section at select grocery outlets all around the U.S. and if you can’t find these awesome items, please ask your grocer immediately to stock Hooters Foods or you will picket the store. You will picket the store, right? Even if you don’t have time to picket, tell your grocer you want Hooters Foods.
2007
And so the saga goes… and goes… and goes… who would have ever thought… ‘cause remember, thinking wasn’t a Hooters Six strong point… but as they got older (at least, the older ones) and the number of stores got plentiful (nearly 500 now in 27 countries) and the sales became bountiful (nearly 1 billion) and imitators became ridiculous (nearly everywhere), the 25th Anniversary in October of 2008 will be a time for celebration… a time for reflection… a time for the missing man in the wing formation. On July 15, 2006, HOA Chairman of the Board and Worldwide Wing Commander, Bob Brooks, passed away after a pair of decades “makin’ people happy” with Hooters. His able son, Cody, grabbed the baton (but not in the “twirling” sense) and quickly earned the respect of the collective Hooters system, accelerating expansion across the globe and re-instilling the commitment to quality and to charitable involvement from neighborhoods to nations.
When last you heard from us, the Hooters website was winning awards (okay, AN award) and was cutting edge for its time. That was 1999, right before the big Y2K scare, which turned out to be a whole lot of nothing. Fitting for the year ’00, don’t you think? Those of us at H’00ters weren’t the least bit afraid of any technology glitches though, maybe because we invented the internet - oh wait - that was Al Gore, wasn’t it? In 2007, we launched a whole new website (this one) with a whole new look (see?) and we expect those new awards to come rolling in any day now. You can even nominate us for one or two, if you want. As for the Hooters Four (formerly known as the Hooters Six), it has all become so heartwarming. Many current Hooters Girls weren’t even born when we opened the doors, and many great customers have passed on, but the experience of a refreshing day a the beach lives on, and now, when Americans and the world need their own “toga party” more than ever, we are happy to say…
Sit down and make yourself comfortable and if there is anything you require – within reason, of
course – let us know.
And order something, because we have really good food.
