A Seven-Decade Banking Relationship Helps Legendary Pink's Hot Dogs Grow From Hot Dog Cart to L.A. Icon

Oct 27, 2011

How a Hot Dog Became a Hollywood Legend

Super: A TASTE OF OPPORTUNITY

V/O (Richard Pink): We don’t think of ourselves as celebrities. I mean, we just think of ourselves as regular people but it’s so amazing and touching when people come up to us and say can we get your autograph?

V/O (Gloria Pink): Can we take our picture with you?

Super: Gloria Pink, Owner; Richard Pink, Owner; Beverly Pink, Owner

V/O (Richard Pink): We like to look over our shoulder to see who they’re talking to. Pink’s has about 30 different kinds of hot dogs as well as 12 different kinds of burgers.

V/O (Gloria Pink): Actually I think Rich is the major mastermind behind coming up with these incredible creations, you know? If they like mushrooms and they like guacamole and they like coleslaw we have every kind of hot dog you can imagine and so we try to create a taste for every kind of customer that comes in.

V/O (Gloria Pink): It’s like a dance. It’s a very small kitchen and they’re not bumping into each other.

V/O (Richard Pink): You know the wait. Sometimes it can be a half hour, hour, hour and a half. And they say ‘we had a blast in line’.

V/O (Gloria Pink): They say this is part of the experience.

V/O (Richard Pink): In our view, anything that’s 70 years old in Hollywood or LA is an archeological find. There’s nothing as old as our place frankly. 1939. My parents ran across an ad for a hot dog cart. And the…my mother said, ‘well, people gotta eat so maybe we ought to buy this hot dog cart and set it up someplace.’ So my parents went to Bank of America. They just pleaded with their enthusiasm for this hot dog business because people have to eat. And this branch manager said alright. I will take a risk. I will take a chance on the two of you and I’ll loan you the money to buy the property. And it was $4,000. In those days, that’s what land was going for. And she went into business. Fired up the hot dog cart with a hundred yard extension cord and that’s how Pink’s was fired up for the first two years.

Super: Marilyn Kaye, Bank of America

V/O (Marilyn Kaye): I was coming to Pink’s Hot Dogs when I was in high school and here I am today, as a businessperson. That has a special meaning for me.

V/O (Richard Pink): They stood by us to give us the original loan to help us with whatever financial needs we needed as we grew over seventy years. They’re great to work with.

When it comes to Hollywood icons, there's the Hollywood sign, Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and Pink's Hot Dogs. Pink's, located at the corner of Melrose and La Brea, has long attracted crowds drawn to their Famous Chili Dogs, and their addictive fries, burgers, onion rings and burritos.

Paul and Betty Pink started selling Pink's Hot Dogs from a pushcart parked on that corner in 1939. The country was still in the midst of the Great Depression and the Pinks used their last $50 to buy a cart, which they plugged in with a 100-yard extension cord. When the landlord raised the rent two years later, they determined to buy their little plot of land to make their investment permanent.

The Pinks already had a personal banking relationship with Bank of America. They went to talk to the branch manager who was impressed with their enthusiasm and work ethic. The Pinks secured a $4,000 loan and purchased the little weed-filled lot and in 1946 they built a small building on the same spot where the cart had stood.

Today, current owners Richard and Beverly Pink, the founder's children, and Richard's wife Gloria preside over the flagship restaurant that sells more than 2,500 hot dogs—more than 30 kinds—and 170 pounds of chili a day. Pink's proximity to the studios has made it a local celebrity haunt and a part of the city's urban landscape for seven decades.

According to Richard, "It takes a lot of hard work to do what we do. We work at it every day from dawn to exhaustion. We are constantly trying to figure out how to attract thousands of customers a day to Pink's. With no foot traffic, they've got to want to beat a path to your hot dog stand."

Bank of America has worked with the Pink family as they have grown and expanded the business. According to Karla Lee, Regional Business Support Executive at Bank of America,"Like Pink's, every big business started as a small business. It's our ability to partner through the stages of their growth, providing the financial vehicles to help them be successful. And when all goes well, those businesses become anchors in their communities."

Join the conversation: Learn how we're working to help strengthen communities—on the Bank of America Facebook page.

A Seven-Decade Banking Relationship Helps Legendary Pink's Hot Dogs Grow From Hot Dog Cart to L.A. Icon

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