3 Nogales McDonald’s change hands

JAMES S. WOOD / ARIZONA DAILY STAR 2007

Mark Pullen, left, and his wife, Gael Sylvia Pullen, talk with McDonald’s supervisor Alfredo Alvarez. The Pullens have sold their three McDonald’s stores to LeAnn and Pat Richards, who also own stores in Sierra Vista and Douglas.


By Tim Steller

ARIZONA DAILY STAR

The McDonald’s restaurants in No­gales, Ariz., changed hands Thursday for the second time in less than three years.

Gael and Mark Pullen, who bought the three restaurants in 2007 from well-known businessman José Canchola, sold the three stores to LeAnn and Pat Richards. The Richardses own the McDonald’s restau­rants in Sierra Vista and Douglas.

“We love border communities, and we’ve done business in them for 20 years,”LeAnn Richards said Thursday.

The new owners plan to make “major reinvestments”in the restaurants,LeAnn Richards said. Among the changes: “Changing the decor, updating the inte­riors, making them more relevant.”

For the landmark downtown Nogales McDonald’s, the changes will be more significant, Richards said. That restau­rant needs to be torn down and rebuilt, a process that may take more than a year.

The Pullens came from Ohio in De­cember 2007 and announced similar plans — to replace the aging downtown restaurant on Crawford Street. But the plans never came to fruition.

They also pledged to sustain the com­munity spirit established by Canchola, a former Nogales mayor and Southern Ari­zona philanthropist. Canchola had for years invited poor youths from Nogales, Sonora, to his restaurant for a free meal on Christmas Day. The Pullens extended the tradition but switched it to New Year’s Day.

“We want to continue that tradition,” LeAnn Richards said.

The Pullens plan to enter the Tucson market by buying two McDonald’s restaurants, Gael Pullen said. She did not disclose the locations, saying the deals are still pending.

She called the family’s time in Nogales “wonderful” but said their plan had been to pursue opportunities in the Tucson market.



Contact reporter Tim Steller at 807-8427 or at tsteller@azstarnet.com