Tony and Judi Lawler, who were managing the Sportslander Motor Inn in Moama at the time, eventually got the nod as the new licensees of the restaurant. They would spend the best part of the next two years preparing to open the doors.
The 50th anniversary of Macca's in Australia is an amazing story in itself, but what the Lawlers went through to open the doors of the Golden Arches in Echuca is nothing short of extraordinary.
Tony’s detailed application was eventually successful, but it wasn’t as simple as heating up the oil and flipping some burgers. In fact, nothing about starting the franchise was easy.
As part of the lengthy and time-consuming application process Tony spent four days working at the Albury McDonald's.
Once he got the nod as the licensee he worked for six months — unpaid — in a restaurant, learning the ropes before being eventually approved.
Tony uprooted the family and moved to Melbourne for nine months to work out of the Blackburn store, but a revision of anticipated sales at the Echuca store resulted in him being sent to a busier store at Pakenham.
Judi spent her training period at the Victoria Market McDonald's restaurant.
Tony said during the preparation for the opening, McDonald's changed their business approach from building large sites on the edge of towns to building sites in more central locations.
“We had to wait for an appropriate site to become available,” he said.
“In Echuca’s case Burbury Horne car dealership was approached and McDonald's needed to buy the car dealership business as well as the freehold land in order to get a central location.”
What followed was a hearing to answer two objections received by the then Echuca City Council before the process could continue.
“The first job was to find six trainee managers and arrange for them to move to Melbourne to train in various McDonald's restaurants for four months to learn the McDonald's system,” Tony said.
If you are not tired reading the steps to this point then hang onto your hats.
The Lawlers had to rent two houses on either side of Melbourne to house the trainees.
Next came the challenge of the building itself, which the couple described as “very boxy and in no way sympathetic to the heritage area”.
“Judi objected strenuously and made many trips to existing McDonald's to come up with what we opened in 1995,” Tony said.
“We interviewed 200 potential employees to find our 120 crew members, then kitted them all out in uniforms and arranged training at the nearest McDonald's restaurants — Shepparton, Bendigo and Glenrowan.”
Most of the crew members were students, so plenty of challenges again arose.
“We were very appreciative of all the parents who drove their children to training sessions after school and on weekends,” he said.
The restaurant opened in April 1995, the Saturday before Easter.
“To say the opening was highly anticipated would be an understatement,” Tony said.
On opening day the queues were lined up along High St and pressed so tightly against the front doors that staff were forced to exit through the back door and push customers away from the front doors so they could be opened.
“The opening day takings were the second-highest opening day takings of any McDonald's in Victoria,” Tony said.
In 1995 McDonald's Echuca won the Most Outstanding Décor award for the design of the fitout and in 1997 McDonald's Victoria had its biggest sales year since inception.
Ronald McDonald House, which provides accommodation to families of sick children requiring hospital treatment in Melbourne, struck a chord with the Lawlers early in their McDonald's journey.
“We knew families from Echuca that had used Ronald McDonald House, so the annual McHappy Day was a particularly large event involving many locals and raising many thousands for the charity,” Tony said.
Now if you are thinking this story can’t get any more interesting, enter what Tony believes to still be the only bride and groom to host their wedding reception in the Echuca McDonald's party room.
The Lawlers handed the reins of Echuca McDonald's to Gary Radford in 2001, who in turn has passed the baton on to his daughter Courtney and her husband, Scott Moller.
Judi became a councillor, and eventually Mayor of Campaspe Shire, while Tony built the Moama on Murray Resort with a business partner.
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