A Consummate Texas Tycoon —
But , He Isn ’ t Really From Texas
Lunch with Texas entrepreneur Al Micallef at his landmark restaurant Reata is far more than a chat over chicken-fried , it ’ s a cultural and educational experience .
Despite his Texas-sized personality and heart , Micallef isn ’ t technically a Texan , not a native Texan , not in the strictest sense of the term .
He wasn ’ t born in Texas , but then neither were Charles Goodnight , Sam Houston or Richard King ; but that didn ’ t make them any less Texan .
Micallef has physically lived in Texas for 43 years , but he ’ s been a native Texan in spirit since childhood .
“ I was born in a small town just outside of Detroit , Michigan ,” he said , adding that his father worked for Ford Motor Co . and his mother made custom window treatments . “ When I was a little kid I built a crystal set ( a radio ) and the only station I could get was Del Rio , Texas , you know , with Wolfman Jack and Sons of the Pioneers . I thought I lived in Texas .”
His parents worked hard to convince him otherwise , but it never seemed to completely sink in .
Micallef ’ s genius for recognizing a niche and finding a resourceful way of filling it emerged early in life . He started his first business selling his own concoction , one that he also manufactured , at the age of 6 . It was a rust remedy that consisted of a cleanser and sand , one he sold door to door , toting his products around in his little red wagon . Who could say “ no ” to that ? Other youthful business ventures followed . They included a lemonade stand ( his Catholic school let out for the summer two weeks before public school , so he got a jump-start on the competition ) and a sock hop in a vacant storefront next door to the grocery store where he worked as a sack boy .
Never a big fan of school , Micallef was a huge fan of adventure and business .
Once he was finished with the drudgery of school , Micallef went to work for a company owned by his friend ’ s family called Detroit Silicone Rubber Co .; it manufactured rubber products . Micallef liked the job . There was only one problem — the company was floundering .
Micallef said , “ I started running a department , but it didn ’ t take very long before I ended up taking over the whole plant .”
The company was purchased three years later by K & M Plastics in 1971 and renamed JAMAK , Inc ., and the new owners promoted Micallef to G . M ., then offered to sell 20 percent of the company to him for a mere $ 5,000 dollars ( remember it was 1971 ). Micallef said , “ But , somehow , I managed to scrape together the money .”
The owners also wanted to move the company out of Michigan and away from its union work force . Micallef was always focused on Texas .
“ Drew Springer was instrumental in our coming to Texas ,” Micallef said .
“ When I was president of the Weatherford Industrial Plan , I went to see JAMAK and several other companies ,” Drew Springer said . “ Burette Hobson was the mayor of Weatherford at the time and he was kind enough to take a piece of property that he owned , and as we found companies to occupy the land , he would sell the land to the city at a rock-bottom rate . The city would build the facility on it and lease it back to the company . It was good for Micallef and his company , but it was better for the city because JAMAK created a lot of good jobs for Weatherford and they ’ re still creating them .”
His wife , Jane , was extremely supportive about the move from Michigan to Texas .
But JAMAK probably would be operating from Mineral Wells today had Micallef not stopped at the Weatherford Dairy Queen on Palo Pinto Street on his way to check out a building in Mineral Wells . Always social , Micallef struck up a conversation with the man standing in line behind him . The man turned out to be Mark Reynolds , Weatherford ’ s city manager at the time . “ He asked me what I was doing . I told him and he said , ‘ Why don ’ t you come to Weatherford ?’”
Micallef said that would be nice but there ’ s no plant buildings for lease . Reynolds asked if Weatherford built a facility for JAMAK would they come ? Micallef said , “ yes .” He ’ d rather his plant be in Weatherford .
“ Weatherford built the plant for me ,” Micallef said . “ I leased it from the city .”
Although it has expanded several times , JAMAK ’ s headquarters remain in its original location in Weatherford and Micallef eventually became sole owner of the company .
Besides Weatherford-based JAMAK , Micallef owns two Reata Restaurants , a catering business , several agricultural businesses ( ranches and farms ), a line of cookbooks , a cigar company and his latest venture , a deli that ’ s set to open late this spring in Fort Worth .
APRIL 2018 PARKER COUNTY TODAY
7
A Consummate
Texas
Tycoon —
But, He Isn’t Really From Texas
L
offered to sell 20 percent of the company to him for a
mere $5,000 dollars (remember it was 1971). Micallef
said, “But, somehow, I managed to scrape together the
money.”
The owners also wanted to move the company
out of Michigan and away from its union work force.
Micallef was always focused on Texas.
“Drew Springer was instrumental in our coming to
Texas,” Micallef said.
“When I was president of the Weatherford Industrial
Plan, I went to see JAMAK and several other compa-
nies,” Drew Springer said. “Burette Hobson was the
mayor of Weatherford at the time and he was kind
enough to take a piece of property that he owned, and
as we found companies to occupy the land, he would
sell the land to the city at a rock-bottom rate. The city
would build the facility on it and lease it back to the
company. It was good for Micallef and his company,
but it was better for the city because JAMAK created a
lot of good jobs for Weatherford and they’re still creat-
ing them.”
His wife, Jane, was extremely supportive about the
move from Michigan to Texas.
But JAMAK probably would be operating from Mineral
Wells today had Micallef not stopped at the Weatherford
Dairy Queen on Palo Pinto Street on his way to check
out a building in Mineral Wells. Always social, Micallef
struck up a conversation with the man standing in line
behind him. The man turned out to be Mark Reynolds,
Weatherford’s city manager at the time. “He asked me
what I was doing. I told him and he said, ‘Why don’t
you come to Weatherford?’”
Micallef said that would be nice but there’s no plant
buildings for lease. Reynolds asked if Weatherford built a
facility for JAMAK would they come? Micallef said, “yes.”
He’d rather his plant be in Weatherford.
“Weatherford built the plant for me,” Micallef said.
“I leased it from the city.”
Although it has expanded several times, JAMAK’s
headquarters remain in its original location in
Weatherford and Micallef eventually became sole owner
of the company.
Besides Weatherford-based JAMAK, Micallef owns two
Reata Restaurants, a catering business, several agricultural
businesses (ranches and farms), a line of cookbooks, a
cigar company and his latest venture, a deli that’s set to
open late this spring in Fort Worth.
unch with Texas entrepreneur Al Micallef at his land-
mark restaurant Reata is far more than a chat over
chicken-fried, it’s a cultural and educational experience.
Despite his Texas-sized personality and heart, Micallef
isn’t technically a Texan, not a native Texan, not in the
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