Once a champ always a champ: Muhammad Ali Rotisserie Chicken is a knockout in the fast-food ring.

Muhammad Ali Rotisserie Chicken is a knockout in the fast-food ring

The former heavyweight champ who intimidated his opponents with his "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" agility is now wooing customers with his great tasting chicken. Opened a year ago, Muhammad Ali Rotisserie Chicken in Silver Spring, Md., is the first of several fast-food restaurants worldwide to carry Ali's name.

At least three new restaurants are slated to open in Atlanta in time for the 1996 Olympic games. Plans are also in the works to build outlets in Saudi Arabia and South Africa by fall of next year. Other restaurants are to follow in 1997 in several Asian and European countries.

"Our goal is to sell the rights overseas and then use the ensuing sales to build other outlets in the United States," says President and CEO Talib Rashada, describing the company's rather unorthodox approach.

The company plans to sell the rights to the name, design concept and chicken recipe for about $30,000 per store, plus a 5% management fee and an 8% royalty. Rashada further notes that after the company has built about 25 domestic shops, it might consider going public.

Business is going well right now. The restaurant, which resembles a boxing ring with a photo montage of the Ali era, generates about $3,000 in sales a day. Since opening, total revenues for the 60-employee firm are about $1.1 million. Rashada expects to double that amount in 1996 by expanding the menu to include turkey and beef food items.

In addition to rotisserie chicken, the restaurant currently serves family-style helpings of macaroni and cheese, candied yams, collard greens, custard bean pies and Ma Ma's cornbread. With the purchase of a Three Whole Rotisserie Chicken Ali Value Meal patrons get an autographed black-and-white glossy of the champ.

At least one marketing twist to the Ali franchises overseas will be custom menus. Franchise owners will have the option of adding side dishes that are custom to their native lands.

But the legendary boxer's restaurant franchise offers more than just good food and a diverse menu. Monday is karaoke night. Suspended from the ceiling of the 3,000 sq.-ft black, red and yellow restaurant are several large video monitors. Customers can enjoy watching music videos, viewing televised boxing matches or listening to the news.

It was Rashada who first convinced Ali to start the chicken franchise. In the summer of 1993, Rashada told Ali and his wife about the great tasting rotisserie chicken he'd had while visiting Saudi Arabia. During a subsequent trip, Rashada approached the proprietor of the restaurant about duplicating the concept in the States under Ali's name.

Rashada was sure such an enterprise would be a hit. After all, in 1994 Sports Illustrated had designated Muhammad Ali the No. 1 most recognized sports figure in the world. Besides, he wanted a venture that could be targeted toward a core market that was previously untapped: middle-class African Americans.

Few quick-service food outlets offer Southern-style cuisine and home cooking the way African Americans are accustomed. That was what made this offer so appealing, explains Jamillah Ali, the third of Ali's nine children, who serves as director of marketing. She also adds that Ali liked the idea of having the type of restaurant where he didn't have to serve pork of liquor.

After several months of negotiations to acquire the rights to the finger-licking tasting recipe, the first Muhammad Ali Rotisserie Chicken restaurant officially opened on November 4, 1994.

Over the next year, customers can expect to see celebrities and politicians grace the restaurant. "Just as Muhammad Ali was more than just a boxer, says Rashada, "we want Muhammad Ali Rotisserie Chicken to be more than just a restaurant."