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
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