This Family Owns Every McDonald's Location In Compton, CA

What comes to mind when you think of Compton, California? Unless you live in the Los Angeles area, your image of Compton is probably influenced by the media. The city — at least a fictional, 1950s version of one of its all-white neighborhoods — got a frightful treatment in the recent HBO series "Them" (via The Wrap). The show dramatized the real-world divisiveness between Black and white people in Compton at that time, and the systemic discrimination Black residents faced (via BlackPast).

Times have most definitely changed since the era depicted in "Them." Compton is now 68% Hispanic, 29% Black, and only 1.2% non-Hispanic white, according to 2019 Census figures. More than anything else, Compton these days may be most famous for its hip-hop legacy. The groundbreaking group NWA rose to fame in the 1980s, as depicted in the 2015 movie "Straight Outta Compton." Compton native Kendrick Lamar has won multiple Grammys and even a Pulitzer Prize for his rap music (via Vanity Fair). Venus and Serena Williams grew up learning to play tennis in Compton, too (via CNN).

Another Black family deserves mention in Compton's long list of success stories. Patricia Williams and her daughters Nicole Enearu and Kerri Harper-Howie happen to own every McDonald's restaurant in the city, according to the Los Angeles Sentinel. Williams' first McDonald's location, acquired in 1984, was in Compton, per BlackBusiness.com. From there, Williams and her daughters have amassed a $50 million McDonald's franchise empire, with more than a dozen restaurants.

How many McDonald's are in Compton, California? A search on the McDonald's restaurant locator webpage yields four results in the city of Compton. The same four locations, in addition to several others, are also listed on the Williams/Enearu Organization's website — the organization run by Patricia Williams and her daughters Nicole Enearu and Kerri Harper-Howie. Counting the four McDonald's locations in Compton, the family owns 18 McDonald's restaurants, all in the Los Angeles area.

Enearu left a job with Los Angeles County to get involved in the family business, according to the Los Angeles Sentinel. She got her start through McDonald's Next Generation program, geared for children of franchisees. Harper-Howie, a lawyer, didn't get directly involved in her mother and sister's business right away but did provide them with legal services. She eventually entered the Next Generation program to become a franchisee herself.

Williams and her daughters give back to the community by offering scholarships and supporting charities, per BlackBusiness.com. Their restaurants also offer a direct benefit in the form of regular paychecks for hundreds of employees. Williams was recognized with a Golden Arch Award, the highest honor a McDonald's owner can receive. Enearu also stands out as a McDonald's owner. She became the first female African American to chair the McDonald's Southern California Regional Leadership Council, according to Black Enterprise.