Their dream became a nightmare.
For Marcus and Denise Beasley, both young, black and successful in their careers in the corporate world, the dream of owning their own company was what mattered most.
So the Randallstown couple decided to open a Church?s Chicken at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, as part of Maryland officials? plan to boost minority ownership and contracts for services at the airport, according to the Maryland Aviation Administration, which oversees the airport.
It made sense, the couple said, for them to open a fast-food restaurant. Marcus Battle has spent more than a decade at KFC, working his way up to district manager, while Denise Battle was a senior accountant at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
“We knew what it would take to operate a business,” Marcus Battle said.
But their dreams were shattered when the business closed. They may also lose their home, which they used as collateral for a loan.
At the core of the problem is a menu pricing policy requiring the Beasleys to match the prices of an inner city, low-income area Church?s Chicken at 1617 JFK Blvd. in Philadelphia. The Beasleys estimate they lost over $300,000 in the year ending May 2006.
“All the other restaurants [at BWI airport] used price comparisons of stores in Maryland,” said Denise Beasley.
A Roy Rogers restaurant in BWI was allowed to charge $2 more for comparable menu to one at the Beasleys? Church?s Chicken in the airport, the Beasleys said.
Their allegations are being investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration.
According to responses that the Maryland Aviation Administration gave the FAA as part of its investigation, most other restaurants used menu price comparisons for restaurants in Baltimore City, Glen Burnie, Columbia, Hanover or College Park.
The Beasleys asked BAA Maryland Inc., who took over management of food establishments at the airport in 2004, to change the menu price comparison to a restaurant in Arundel Mills Mall, the nearest large retail center with several restaurants, according to the documents.
In a May 2005 letter to the Beasleys, BAA Maryland refused the request saying the Philadelphia location was “mutually agreed upon” in their contract.
The Beasleys continued their pleas to change the pricing over the next year saying the price fix was driving them out of business. They got no results even though, according to documents supplied to the FAA, BAA Maryland agreed to change the menu price comparison of other restaurants at BWI that had complained.
Several calls by The Examiner to BAA Maryland were not returned.
Jonathan Dean, a spokesman for the Maryland Aviation Administration, said the Beasleys? allegations are without merit.
“The Beasleys? allegation are subject of an administrative review by the FAA,” Dean said.
“The airport repeatedly asserted that their claims are without merit and should be dismissed,” Dean said.
