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Article: PEPE'S NORTH OF THE BORDER.(Mexican restaurant in Barrow, Alaska)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Alaska Business Monthly
- Article date:
- October 1, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Alaska Business Publishing Company, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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How did you get a bank to finance a Mexican restaurant 300 miles above the Arctic Circle?" Fran Tate paused a long time before she answered.
"How come you have to ask the hard questions first?"
Then the truth spilled out. Tate started Pepe's North of the Border in 1978 by writing hot checks--$11,000 total--but this gamble demonstrates the entrepreneur's confidence in her own success.
"By the time (suppliers) went to cash (the checks), they were covered. When we opened, we were the hottest thing in town. It took just a week to get enough money to cover the checks. Just don't you do it this way!" she says.
Tate did go to 11 banks in ...