But with dogged determination and careful planning, the chain began to grow. I learned at Tech there are no free rides. I felt like, once I graduated from Tech, I could do anything. In 1985, DuPree bought his first Applebee's restaurant and never looked back. Besides Applebee's, DuPree's other two main concepts are Don Pablo's Mexican restaurants and Harrigan's bar and grill, located mostly in the Southwest.
Analysts consider the company to be among the best-run restaurant operations in the country.
Currently in the fourth year of an 11-year plan, the company aims to operate more than 300 restaurants by the end of this year and more than 500 by the end of 1998. To reach his lofty aspirations, DuPree employs the same set of logical tools he did when figuring out his career choice. However trite or complex those problems may seem, there's a method for going about that, and Georgia Tech taught me to learn how to apply those techniques and make decisions, reach the proper conclusions with them, and have the guts to take the action. You can never forget that the only thing of any value is people. There's not a building in Atlanta that has any value but for the people in it.