Ghulam Bombaywala
Ghulam Mohammed "Bombay" Bombaywala is a
Early life
Bombaywala was born and raised in Karachi. His family name originated from India, where his parents came from.[4]
He attended primary and secondary school in Karachi, first going to the Unique English School, then
Career
1970s and 1980s
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/Michelangelosinhouston.jpg/220px-Michelangelosinhouston.jpg)
At age 17,
With his saved funds, he bought an Italian restaurant in
In the late 1980s, Bombaywala traveled to
1990s
In 1990, Bombaywala, Kaplan, Donald Bonham, Edwin Freedman, and Max Levit and Milton Levit acquired James Coney Island out of bankruptcy court.[12][13]
He acquired Two Pesos Inc., which was making annual losses of $2.7 million, and became the company's chairperson and president. In 1993 he sold Two Pesos, by then profitable, for $30 million to Taco Cabana. Two Pesos had 27 locations as of 1999. Because of this and other turn-arounds of restaurants, Bombaywala became known as the "restaurant doctor".[7]
In 1992 he acquired one million shares, or 5%, of the convenience store chain
In 1994 Bombaywala expressed his intention to open Marco's Mexican Restaurant locations across the United States.[14]
In July 1994 Bombaywala merged Marco's Mexican Restaurants and Billy Blues Food Co.,
By 1998 he had established a holding company for some of his restaurants, Watermarc Food Management Co., and he served as its chairperson. It was the holding company of Billy Blues Barbecue Bar & Grill, Marco's Mexican Restaurant, and The Original Pasta Co. In regards to Billy Blues, Bombaywala was unable to turn around that restaurant nor was he able to placate the company's creditors. In January 1999 Watermarc filed for
By 1999,[2] Bombaywala appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show, and the episode discussed the rise of his business empire.[3]
On Monday August 30, 1999 a U.S. bankruptcy court approved of the bankruptcy settlement. According to the settlement, the assets, including 29 restaurants, were to be sold to Five Points Investments Inc., a company owned by Haroon Sheikh, for $13 million. The restaurants were to continue to be operated under their current names. Watermarc was scheduled to be dissolved. Shaikh became the sole owner and CEO of Five Points, while Bombaywala became the overseer of daily management at Five Points. At the time the restaurants had a combined total of 1,200 employees.[7]
2000s
In December 2000, Bombaywala closed Guggenheim's.[11] The remaining Billy Blues Bar & Grill location on Richmond Avenue in Houston closed in January 2001.[11]
At its peak, Five Points, later named Five Star Restaurants, Inc.,[3] and headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas,[11] had over 40 restaurants.[3]
In September 2003 Five Points, now named Five Star, filed for
In 2006 Bombaywala himself filed for
Foundation work
After the
In the mid-2000s Bombaywala had a conflict with Houston City Council member M.J. Khan. After the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, the two men organized separate relief efforts instead of doing a joint effort.[3]
Bombaywala had served on the boards of the
Personal life
Bombaywala married twice. In 1978,[16] he married a half-Spanish, half-Irish woman. He was married to her for six years and had three children with her. In 1987 he remarried, and as of 2007 he remains married to his second wife.[17]
As of 2004 Bombaywala was a Republican. He planned to vote for George W. Bush as President of the United States in the 2004 Presidential Election.[18]
See also
- History of the Pakistani-Americans in Houston
- Ninfa Laurenzo
- Percy Creuzot
References
- ^ a b "Bombaywala, Ghulam Bombaywala transcript, 2 of 2" (Oral Histories from the Houston History Project) (Archive). University of Houston Libraries. (Interview of Ghulam Mohammed Bombaywala, HHA #00570, July 19, 2007, Interviewer: Uzma Quraishi, Transcribed by Suzanne Mascola) p. 1. "I started out going to school - University of Houston downtown campus. It used to be South Texas Junior College."
- ^ a b Briggs, Margaret L. "Taking the Heat" (Archive). Houston Press. Thursday April 8, 1999. Retrieved on May 12, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Hegstrom, Edward. "Restaurateur's money woes spark more discord." Houston Chronicle. January 9, 2006. Retrieved on May 2, 2014.
- ^ a b "Bombaywala, Ghulam Bombaywala transcript, 2 of 2" (Oral Histories from the Houston History Project) (Archive). University of Houston Libraries. (Interview of Ghulam Mohammed Bombaywala, HHA #00570, July 19, 2007, Interviewer: Uzma Quraishi, Transcribed by Suzanne Mascola) p. 2. "GB: From Pakistan. I was born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan. My parents migrated from India and that is where the last name came from - Bombaywala, surname."
- ^ a b c "Bombaywala, Ghulam Bombaywala transcript, 2 of 2" (Oral Histories from the Houston History Project) (Archive). University of Houston Libraries. (Interview of Ghulam Mohammed Bombaywala, HHA #00570, July 19, 2007, Interviewer: Uzma Quraishi, Transcribed by Suzanne Mascola) p. 3. "GB: Karachi. I went to school there. Unique English School. Then, from there, you know, in Karachi, of course, called CMS. Then, the college was National College. I did my Inter [as in, intermediate school diploma] from there and then came here. Then got my associate degree from the University of Houston."
- ^ a b c d Hegstrom, Edward. "Making A Difference: Restaurateur lobbies on behalf of Muslims." Houston Chronicle. August 15, 2004. Retrieved on May 12, 2014.
- ^ Houston Business Journal. September 5, 1999. Retrieved on May 12, 2014.
- ^ a b Hassell, Greg. "Restaurateur buys stake in Stop N Go - Houston businessman considering acquisition of additional shares." Houston Chronicle. Wednesday January 22, 1992. Business p. 1. Available at NewsBank, Record Number 01*22*1032262. Available at the Houston Public Library website with a library card.
- ISBN 0674037448, 9780674037441. p. 1.
- ^ Belkin, Lisa (September 6, 1989). "A Slice of New York (On Rye) in Texas". The New York Times.
- ^ Houston Business Journal. January 26, 2004. Retrieved on May 12, 2014.
- ^ Greer, Jim (September 3, 1990). "Bankruptcy Judge Picks Wiener Winner". Houston Business Journal.
- ^ Hassell, Greg (September 5, 1990). "New top dogs at James Coney Island". Houston Chronicle.
- ^ Cook, Allison. "Marco's Rampant." Houston Press. December 15, 1994. Retrieved on May 12, 2014.
- ^ a b c Hassell, Greg. "`Bombay' to run Billy Blues/Headquarters to be moved here." Houston Chronicle. Friday September 2, 1994. Available at NewsBank, Record Number HSC09021223582. Available at the Houston Public Library website with a library card.
- ^ "Bombaywala, Ghulam Bombaywala transcript, 2 of 2" (Oral Histories from the Houston History Project) (Archive). University of Houston Libraries. (Interview of Ghulam Mohammed Bombaywala, HHA #00570, July 19, 2007, Interviewer: Uzma Quraishi, Transcribed by Suzanne Mascola) p. 19.
- ^ "Bombaywala, Ghulam Bombaywala transcript, 2 of 2" (Oral Histories from the Houston History Project) (Archive). University of Houston Libraries. (Interview of Ghulam Mohammed Bombaywala, HHA #00570, July 19, 2007, Interviewer: Uzma Quraishi, Transcribed by Suzanne Mascola) p. 20.
- ^ Mack, Kristen. "Muslims cite betrayal by Bush" (Archive). Houston Chronicle. October 29, 2004. Retrieved on May 26, 2014. "Some Muslims have the perception that they are not welcome, said Ghulam Bombaywala, who heads the Pakistani-American Association of Greater Houston. "This is our home and yet we feel we are not wanted here," said Bombaywala, a Republican who still plans to vote for Bush this year."
External links
- Bombaywala, Ghulam Bombaywala transcript (Oral Histories from the Houston History Project) University of Houston Libraries. (Interview of Ghulam Mohammed Bombaywala, HHA #00570, July 19, 2007, Interviewer: Uzma Quraishi, Transcribed by Suzanne Mascola) (Archive of PDF file, Archive of container HTML page) - See Index (Archive of PDF file, Archive of container HTML page)