To Lee Fritz, “Have it Your Way” is more than a cute slogan. It’s a way of life for the Burger King franchisee, who owns six restaurants in Kitsap County.

Four are located in Bremerton, one in Poulsbo and one in Port Orchard. Only three on the Peninsula are not owned by Fritz, and he hopes to snap those up when they’re on the market.

Every one of Fritz’s restaurants is run his way, which means doing whatever it takes to keep customers happy.

That explains why Fritz’s franchises are consistently ranked by Burger King among the Top 10 of the chain’s 250 Northwest outlets. The criteria? Speed of service, cleanliness, friendliness, and food quality.

Burger King bases its ratings on the observations of mystery diners sent out by the national office. But as with everything else, Fritz goes a step further, hiring his own mystery diners to check things out periodically.

That might sound a bit intimidating from an employee’s standpoint, but it would be hard to find a happier fast-food crew.

“I have people who have been with me since they were 16 years old,” says Fritz. “They’ve gone off to college, then they’ve come back.”

His top managers have been with Fritz for seven to 10 years; and the same goes for 20 of his 30-strong management team members.

“That’s very unusual,” says Fritz. “I think it’s an indicator of how successful your business is. Whenever we have any changes in operating philosophy or marketing, we discuss it a meetings. You make your business grow by having your people buy in.”

It took Fritz himself a while to buy into the idea of a career in fast food. With a degree in criminal psychology under his belt, he was working on his master’s degree, with an eye toward becoming a doctor, when a friend suggested he get a part-time job at Burger King. It was conveniently located, right on the campus, and jobs were hard to come by in Minnesota in 1973.

“I started out at the bottom, cleaning toilets and scrubbing floors,” Fritz recalls. “They said, how would you like to become a manager?’ and I said, ‘well, no, not really,’ but money is money.”

He accepted the promotion, and just kept moving up. A few years later, Fritz moved to Miami to help set up, then teach at, Burger King University. Employees could come there to get credits toward college degrees in courses like management, business and accounting.

In 1979, Fritz moved to Seattle as area manager, and waited a decade before buying his first three franchises. He named his company Sound City Foods.

“My rule of thumb is, you can’t be a vice president till you’re at least 35,” explains Fritz, who is now 52. “I think you have to learn what life is about before you start supervising people. Now I guess I’ve become my own vice president.”
Whatever his title, Fritz is a hands-on kind of manager. He still handles the maintenance work at his restaurants.

“I do all my own basic plumbing, electricity, ditch-digging. In order to save money and understand what your business is about, you have to be hands-on,” he says. “My feeling is that the closer you are to your business, the better off you are.”

Attracting a loyal customer base is another ingredient in Fritz’s mix for success. That means a lot of community involvement, and Fritz’s franchises help out with countywide groups and projects ranging from the Humane Society to Cleanup Saturdays for Kitsap.

Fritz is also on the board of Kitsap Mental Health and on the board of directors for the Salvation Army. In his pre-Burger King days, Fritz worked for the Salvation Army in Indianapolis, providing counseling and other services to the needy. His employees include people who need a helping hand, like youngsters on work-release or with Down’s syndrome.

“Lee has definitely built a franchise whose employees want to be a part of the community,” says Janet Mayberry, director of Development and Community Relations for Kitsap Mental Health Services. “He looks at his employees as a family in itself.”

There are lots of other differences between Fritz’s restaurants and many others. He’s not sure the average diner notices the subtle differences, like his manicured landscaping and bold new signs and menu boards. But they certainly noticed when he started taking credit cards 10 years ago, way before most fast-food franchises would even consider the idea. He was even recruited by American Express to do an ad for them, which has appeared in a number of magazines.

Fritz is also featured on the web site of VeriFone, the company that supplies his credit-card payment terminals.

“Where others saw question marks,” the site reads, “Fritz saw an outstanding opportunity.”

And two years ago, Fritz installed debit-card swipes. Some of his competitors are reluctant to take “plastic money” because of the 2 to 3 percent fee charged by the bank. To Fritz’s way of thinking, customers should have the option.

“To me, it’s an expense of business,” he explains. “I’m concerned about having you as a customer, and knowing you’re going to spend twice as much on a credit card shows me that’s what you prefer.”

Fritz’s credit and debit-card sales are well above the national average, partly because he established those services so early, and partly because of his restaurants’ location.

“We’ve in a very heavy military area, and if they’re out to sea, their spouses tend to use credit cards more than the average person. Also, they’re of a younger generation and are much more savvy about the convenience of using credit cards versus cash.”

As a member of Burger King’s national product-development committee, Fritz influences and eagerly adopts new technologies. His restaurants now have video screens that show your order, eliminating misunderstandings. And he’s trying out a new type of headset at one of his Bremerton stores that promises to deliver better sound with less background noise.

Fritz, who lost his wife to breast cancer two years ago and suffered a heart attack not long ago, says he’s cut back a bit on his work hours lately. He has one grown son, another about to graduate from Washington State University, and a 15-year-old daughter at home.

“I used to be, and some people still think I am, a workaholic,” Fritz says. “But I’ve realized there are other ways to run a business than working your head off.”

That means surrounding yourself with competent employees, which Fritz has done. And having a management philosophy that applies to his entire life.

“To me, my business is not only a business, but it’s a lifestyle of involvement.”.