Golden Krust CEO Lowell Hawthorne found dead at 57..
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2stepz_ahead
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Lowell Hawthorne, who built a Caribbean food empire popularizing the Jamaican beef patty from coast to coast, was found dead inside his Bronx factory Saturday night from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
The body of Hawthorne, 57, of Greenburgh, the president of the Golden Krust Bakery and Grill, was discovered inside the Park Avenue factory in the Claremont section of the Bronx around 5:30 p.m. ET Saturday.
Preliminary indications suggest Hawthorne took his own life but police continue investigating the circumstances leading up to the Golden Krust CEO’s death.
Caribbean food empire built one patty at a time
Appreciation: Golden Krust founder's story inspired
With his family's help, Hawthorne opened the first Golden Krust store in the Bronx in 1989 upon arriving from Jamaica at the age of 21 with a secret recipe for beef patties, spicy beef encased in flaky dough, a popular staple of the island nation.
Over the next 28 years, Golden Krust expanded to some 120 franchises across the U.S., selling beef patties and ? chicken under the motto, “We take the taste of the Caribbean to the world.”
The epicenter of the sprawling franchise — from East Coast storefronts to ShopRites and Costcos further west — was Golden Krust’s Park Avenue factory, built in 1996.
In 2016, the company announced plans to center its nationwide operations on a 17-acre plot on Route 303 in Orangetown, a mile south of the New York State Thruway.
The $37 million Golden Krust headquarters remains in the planning phase. But the company had already won the support of the Rockland Industrial Development Agency, which negotiated more than $1.2 million in tax incentives to lure Golden Krust north.
The plan was to consolidate the company's legal and corporate offices in a new 100,000-square-foot building that would house a factory to turn out Golden Krust patties, breads and pastries.
A sign on Route 303 in Orangetown advertises the future
In 2013, Hawthorne penned a memoir, The Baker’s Son.
In it, he recalled a childhood in Jamaica, where at the age of 10, he was raising rabbits, chicken and guinea pigs.
While standing in the customs line at John F. Kennedy International Airport the day after his 21st birthday he imagined the opportunities that lay ahead.
“This is the kind of place that embraces immigrants,” he thought.
The body of Hawthorne, 57, of Greenburgh, the president of the Golden Krust Bakery and Grill, was discovered inside the Park Avenue factory in the Claremont section of the Bronx around 5:30 p.m. ET Saturday.
Preliminary indications suggest Hawthorne took his own life but police continue investigating the circumstances leading up to the Golden Krust CEO’s death.
Caribbean food empire built one patty at a time
Appreciation: Golden Krust founder's story inspired
With his family's help, Hawthorne opened the first Golden Krust store in the Bronx in 1989 upon arriving from Jamaica at the age of 21 with a secret recipe for beef patties, spicy beef encased in flaky dough, a popular staple of the island nation.
Over the next 28 years, Golden Krust expanded to some 120 franchises across the U.S., selling beef patties and ? chicken under the motto, “We take the taste of the Caribbean to the world.”
The epicenter of the sprawling franchise — from East Coast storefronts to ShopRites and Costcos further west — was Golden Krust’s Park Avenue factory, built in 1996.
In 2016, the company announced plans to center its nationwide operations on a 17-acre plot on Route 303 in Orangetown, a mile south of the New York State Thruway.
The $37 million Golden Krust headquarters remains in the planning phase. But the company had already won the support of the Rockland Industrial Development Agency, which negotiated more than $1.2 million in tax incentives to lure Golden Krust north.
The plan was to consolidate the company's legal and corporate offices in a new 100,000-square-foot building that would house a factory to turn out Golden Krust patties, breads and pastries.
A sign on Route 303 in Orangetown advertises the future
In 2013, Hawthorne penned a memoir, The Baker’s Son.
In it, he recalled a childhood in Jamaica, where at the age of 10, he was raising rabbits, chicken and guinea pigs.
While standing in the customs line at John F. Kennedy International Airport the day after his 21st birthday he imagined the opportunities that lay ahead.
“This is the kind of place that embraces immigrants,” he thought.
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Black excellence
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Two more Golden Krust employees sue company
There are reports in the United States that two more former employees of the Golden Krust restaurant chain have filed legal action against the company claiming they were denied overtime pay.
The New York Daily News reports that the lawsuit was filed in Manhattan Federal Court on Thursday, days after the company’s former chief executive officer Lowell Hawthorne committed suicide.
The newspaper says the two former employees, William Anderson and Sixto Ramirez, are alleging that Golden Krust routinely deny its workers overtime pay.
The complaint also seeks class-action status and is the third such claim filed against the company.
Hawthorne, who was born and raised in Jamaica, reportedly shot himself inside his company’s main office in the Bronx last Saturday.
He was widely hailed as an American success story and has gained international recognition after helping to grow the Golden Krust chain from one store in the state of New York to 120 stores across nine states.
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Gold Krust food is ight and their patties arnt good at all. Same kind of generic frozen ? you can find at any supermarket freezer.
Wonder what kinda personal stuff was going on, that he felt the need to off himself tho. -
he had debt.....too much debt
but this is what kills me....
this dude came from jamaica to america and started a business and expanded to 120 stores across the the states
an he gets no love from the ic?
does matter if his food was good or not...he did the damn thing.
i swear i dont get yall .....
all these ? come down on me for not immediately supporting lavar but yall skip over a proven ? ?
where his support?
smdh -
You should've posted about him instead of waiting for someone else, crying-ass ? . I never even heard of him until today.2stepz_ahead wrote: »he had debt.....too much debt
but this is what kills me....
this dude came from jamaica to america and started a business and expanded to 120 stores across the the states
an he gets no love from the ic?
does matter if his food was good or not...he did the damn thing.
i swear i dont get yall .....
all these ? come down on me for not immediately supporting lavar but yall skip over a proven ? ?
where his support?
smdh
Sounds like a terrible end to a good story, though. It looks like he was about his ? and was only going higher smh. -
You should've posted about him instead of waiting for someone else, crying-ass ? . I never even heard of him until today.2stepz_ahead wrote: »he had debt.....too much debt
but this is what kills me....
this dude came from jamaica to america and started a business and expanded to 120 stores across the the states
an he gets no love from the ic?
does matter if his food was good or not...he did the damn thing.
i swear i dont get yall .....
all these ? come down on me for not immediately supporting lavar but yall skip over a proven ? ?
where his support?
smdh
Sounds like a terrible end to a good story, though. It looks like he was about his ? and was only going higher smh.
? i made the thread -
Should've tagged ? in it smh.2stepz_ahead wrote: »
You should've posted about him instead of waiting for someone else, crying-ass ? . I never even heard of him until today.2stepz_ahead wrote: »he had debt.....too much debt
but this is what kills me....
this dude came from jamaica to america and started a business and expanded to 120 stores across the the states
an he gets no love from the ic?
does matter if his food was good or not...he did the damn thing.
i swear i dont get yall .....
all these ? come down on me for not immediately supporting lavar but yall skip over a proven ? ?
where his support?
smdh
Sounds like a terrible end to a good story, though. It looks like he was about his ? and was only going higher smh.
? i made the thread -
Should've tagged ? in it smh.2stepz_ahead wrote: »
You should've posted about him instead of waiting for someone else, crying-ass ? . I never even heard of him until today.2stepz_ahead wrote: »he had debt.....too much debt
but this is what kills me....
this dude came from jamaica to america and started a business and expanded to 120 stores across the the states
an he gets no love from the ic?
does matter if his food was good or not...he did the damn thing.
i swear i dont get yall .....
all these ? come down on me for not immediately supporting lavar but yall skip over a proven ? ?
where his support?
smdh
Sounds like a terrible end to a good story, though. It looks like he was about his ? and was only going higher smh.
? i made the thread
? .....that ? sound stupid.
Always an excuse to not give ? props but ? want to act like they bout it...
He built an empire ...fukk it
I supported an will continue to....
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Tariq was talking about this,he said that when blacks get to middle age to the point when they can pass wealth down
they mysteriously end up dead. But i read somewhere that they have the security video of him killing himself,it's sad
either way i just hope it's no foul play. -
? , I gave him props. I said you need to puy ? on notice if you want it to be seen.2stepz_ahead wrote: »
Should've tagged ? in it smh.2stepz_ahead wrote: »
You should've posted about him instead of waiting for someone else, crying-ass ? . I never even heard of him until today.2stepz_ahead wrote: »he had debt.....too much debt
but this is what kills me....
this dude came from jamaica to america and started a business and expanded to 120 stores across the the states
an he gets no love from the ic?
does matter if his food was good or not...he did the damn thing.
i swear i dont get yall .....
all these ? come down on me for not immediately supporting lavar but yall skip over a proven ? ?
where his support?
smdh
Sounds like a terrible end to a good story, though. It looks like he was about his ? and was only going higher smh.
? i made the thread
? .....that ? sound stupid.
Always an excuse to not give ? props but ? want to act like they bout it...
He built an empire ...fukk it
I supported an will continue to.... -
I hit up a Krust couple times a month but truefully the mom and pops stores in NYC are ? on them as far as quality and price.
I can see how they made it world wide tho -
2stepz_ahead wrote: »he had debt.....too much debt
but this is what kills me....
this dude came from jamaica to america and started a business and expanded to 120 stores across the the states
an he gets no love from the ic?
does matter if his food was good or not...he did the damn thing.
i swear i dont get yall .....
all these ? come down on me for not immediately supporting lavar but yall skip over a proven ? ?
where his support?
smdh
Maybe the IC is not giving him his full respect because he was Jamaican you know some blacks don't like " other" blacks especially when they make lots of money or create some ? valuable -
2stepz_ahead wrote: »he had debt.....too much debt
but this is what kills me....
this dude came from jamaica to america and started a business and expanded to 120 stores across the the states
an he gets no love from the ic?
does matter if his food was good or not...he did the damn thing.
i swear i dont get yall .....
all these ? come down on me for not immediately supporting lavar but yall skip over a proven ? ?
where his support?
smdh
You emotional thugs ? me. I dont give a ? how you try and spin this, I'm not blindly supporting anyone whos product i consider mediocre or sub-par, IDGAF if we the same color. And this is coming from another Jamaican.
If you open a restaurant in Jamaica and your food sucks no one is entertaining that fuckery except for maybe stupid tourists. We do what normal people do and go to another Jamaican restaurant thats also black owned and has their ? together.
Anytime you post something on here and we don't take it as the word of ? and blindly follow, you wanna throw a hissyfit. Calm your duck ass down. -
It’s a “black excellence” story the day he happen to be in the news for killing himself?
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It’s a “black excellence” story the day he happen to be in the news for killing himself?
no but from what he created an was creating. -
2stepz_ahead wrote: »he had debt.....too much debt
but this is what kills me....
this dude came from jamaica to america and started a business and expanded to 120 stores across the the states
an he gets no love from the ic?
does matter if his food was good or not...he did the damn thing.
i swear i dont get yall .....
all these ? come down on me for not immediately supporting lavar but yall skip over a proven ? ?
where his support?
smdh
You emotional thugs ? me. I dont give a ? how you try and spin this, I'm not blindly supporting anyone whos product i consider mediocre or sub-par, IDGAF if we the same color. And this is coming from another Jamaican.
If you open a restaurant in Jamaica and your food sucks no one is entertaining that fuckery except for maybe stupid tourists. We do what normal people do and go to another Jamaican restaurant thats also black owned and has their ? together.
Anytime you post something on here and we don't take it as the word of ? and blindly follow, you wanna throw a hissyfit. Calm your duck ass down.
you got my mixed up......
you wanna fight ? ? -
R.I.P King...
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2stepz_ahead wrote: »he had debt.....too much debt
but this is what kills me....
this dude came from jamaica to america and started a business and expanded to 120 stores across the the states
an he gets no love from the ic?
does matter if his food was good or not...he did the damn thing.
i swear i dont get yall .....
all these ? come down on me for not immediately supporting lavar but yall skip over a proven ? ?
where his support?
smdh
Maybe the IC is not giving him his full respect because he was Jamaican you know some blacks don't like " other" blacks especially when they make lots of money or create some ? valuable
really? u of all people gon say this?
-
2stepz_ahead wrote: »he had debt.....too much debt
but this is what kills me....
this dude came from jamaica to america and started a business and expanded to 120 stores across the the states
an he gets no love from the ic?
does matter if his food was good or not...he did the damn thing.
i swear i dont get yall .....
all these ? come down on me for not immediately supporting lavar but yall skip over a proven ? ?
where his support?
smdh
I wouldn't say he gets no love. Didn't know of him until the news unfortunately but followed the story since it came out, and been eating Golden Krust from a long time ago.
Definitely a story of Black excellence with a ? up ending. R.I.P.
I still eat at Golden Krust even though it's not the greatest Jamaican restaurant. -
blakfyahking wrote: »2stepz_ahead wrote: »he had debt.....too much debt
but this is what kills me....
this dude came from jamaica to america and started a business and expanded to 120 stores across the the states
an he gets no love from the ic?
does matter if his food was good or not...he did the damn thing.
i swear i dont get yall .....
all these ? come down on me for not immediately supporting lavar but yall skip over a proven ? ?
where his support?
smdh
Maybe the IC is not giving him his full respect because he was Jamaican you know some blacks don't like " other" blacks especially when they make lots of money or create some ? valuable
really? u of all people gon say this?
It's the sad truth some blacks don't like blacks from other nationalities doing good ? expect you to stay a poor ? ? immigrant .... it's pure bad mind. I am not saying it's always like this but sometimes it is. Maybe my choice of words was wrong maybe it's not a case of dislike or like, maybe sometimes the success of "other" blacks is simply downplayed because if you shine too bright it's bad for their political and social perspective.
because they cannot blame the white man or racism for their lack of success. -
or maybe I am wrong and they just don't give a ?
