Thanin Viriyaki
Ben Rosenthal and Ashli Blumenfeld of Standard Meat.
Fort Worth is fertile ground for dreamers whose ambition is to build something generational for descendants.
A family-run business is more than a place of innovation. It’s also steeped in tradition. It's where decades of dreams, hard work, and, yes, a few tears, blend with a steadfast commitment to build something timeless.
At the core of a family business lies the family itself, intertwined with every aspect of the enterprise. They invest more than just funds. They pour their hearts and dedication into the journey. Future generations take up the mantle, carrying forward this shared legacy.
Kee and Hannah Song came here from the far reaches of South Korea with nothing but an idea. Mike Cook arrived here from Dallas by way of West Texas. He wanted to grow and sell plants.
Ben Rosenthal followed in the footsteps of Fort Worth’s great packing plants, establishing a fresh-meat purveyor to cut fresh steaks for hotels, country clubs, and restaurants. His son, Manny, built Standard Meat into an industry leader over three decades, mass producing precut steaks, hamburger patties, and pizza toppings for restaurant chains like Pizza Hut and Steak and Ale.
They were all united by the common thread of ambition and dreams. A vision.
We profile three family-owned businesses whose hopes and dreams have been achieved, though the work endures forever.
Men’s Collections
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Richard W. Rodriguez
Kee, Hannah, and Jonathan Song.
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Richard W. Rodriguez
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Richard W. Rodriguez
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Richard W. Rodriguez
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Richard W. Rodriguez
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Richard W. Rodriguez
Kee and Hannah Song came to the U.S. from South Korea with nothing, but they came here for the reason most everybody else does — life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They spoke not a “lick of English.”
However, Kee, “by a miracle of God,” was able to secure a bank loan to buy into a clothing store. He eventually bought out his partner and rebranded the store Men’s Collections.
It’s at the same location since opening 44 years ago. Forty-four years in December to be exact.
Those early days included lonely nights in a small studio apartment with nothing except a mattress on the floor and the Yellow Pages. If Kee had a good day at work, “he’d go to Whataburger because they have the biggest burgers.”
Today, Men’s Collections is a thriving business.
Going into the family business was not a part of son Jonathan Song’s plans after finishing school at TCU where he was a place-kicker on the football team. He believed he, too, would start his own business. Maybe a kicking school. Perhaps in shoes.
“I always had an idea that I wanted to start my own business. I just had no idea what it was,” says Jonathan.
He went to work at the store to help his father get through the pandemic. During that time, he was still looking for another shot to kick somewhere professionally. But he fell in love with the business of suits.
“So, my dad and my mother joke that I'm vice president,” Song says to me through his smart phone. “I will laugh and joke that I'm the bottom of the totem pole who has to do everything my father doesn't want to do.
“That's how I describe it. I’m expected to know and do whatever’s needed.”
Mike’s Garden Centers
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Richard W. Rodriguez
Bridget and Mike Cook Jr.
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Richard W. Rodriguez
Mike Cook Sr. was never seen around town not wearing a Mike's Garden Centers cap. Here's a selection of what he wore through the years.
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Richard W. Rodriguez
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Richard W. Rodriguez
From left, Mike Cook, Jean Kanamhalagi, Glenn Toncray, Ana Lopez, Charlie Stephenson, who has been with the company for decades, and Bridget Cook.
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Richard W. Rodriguez
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Richard W. Rodriguez
Mike Cook Jr. remembers well the options he had as a youngster: He could go to work at Mike’s Garden Centers for an hourly wage, or he could stay at home with a list of chores and work for free.
One morning he didn’t make it up in time to go to “work.” Mike Cook Sr. left him a list of things to do around the house.
Says Mike Jr. today: “The next morning I was up, ready to go, and he goes, ‘Boy, you're a smart guy, I like smart guys.’ He said, ‘You're going to get paid today, Mike.’ So, I learned really quick.”
Mike’s Garden Center has been as much a part of Mike Cook Jr.’s life as his name.
Mike Sr. founded the company in 1972. Their doors have been open on Crowley Road since 1974. Another location operates in Southlake.
Plants were a fascination for the young Mike Sr., who grew up in Dallas and went to Texas Tech to study horticulture. At Mike’s Garden Center, Mike Sr. seemed to always have a good slogan handy, such as, “Cow Poo-Poo Fertilizer.” Mike Sr. always had a ready joke in his holster, too.
All of the Cook children worked at the business at one time or another.
After his own studies at Texas Tech, Mike Jr. opened a landscape design business, which he folded into Mike’s Garden Center when he came over at age 30.
“He kept tapping me on the shoulder like, ‘Hey, I'm not getting any younger here, and we've got to figure out what's going to happen down the road,’” Mike Jr. recalls.
When Mike Cook Sr. passed away in 2019, he had a ready successor.
Today, Mike Jr.’s daughter, Bridget, is also on staff.
Bridget handles the company’s marketing and social media presence.
And, of course, whatever else needs doing in the office.
That’s the way these family-owned businesses work.
Standard Meat
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Thanin Viriyaki
Ashli Blumenfeld and Ben Rosenthal.
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Thanin Viriyaki
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Thanin Viriyaki
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Thanin Viriyaki
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Thanin Viriyaki
Standard Meat's headquarters are in the old Swift & Co. office building at the east end of Exchange in the Stockyards.
The Rosenthals of Texas, that is Standard Meat, are the sort-of Paul Bunyon of family-owned businesses in Fort Worth.
Founded in 1935 by Ben Rosenthal, they are today run by the fourth generation of the family, the second Ben Rosenthal, CEO and co-president, and his sister and co-president, Ashli Rosenthal Blumenfeld.
They are the children of Billy Rosenthal, grandson of the original Ben Rosenthal.
It can be “intimidating” living up to the legacy.
“You put some pressure on yourself,” says Ashli. “It's not even about following the footsteps. It's kind of like dredging your own path, if you will. And I think that for me at least, the thing that made it a little less scary was to be able to do it with Ben. I think that when we started out, our horizons were pretty wide, and we didn't say it needed to look a certain way to ourselves, which allowed us to really sort of navigate and make the last six years our own.”
The two took over in 2019. Their father is chairman.
Manny Rosenthal, Billy’s father and son of Ben I, joined the company at age 13, the year the company began operations. After school at Texas A&M, Manny rejoined the company in 1946.
Manny became president in 1959. Ben moved to chairman.
Billy, who, like his father, began working at Standard Meat as a teen, ascended to president in 1981. Two years later, the company sold to Consolidated Foods.
The story of the second iteration of Standard Meat began in 1994. Outback Steakhouse asked Billy to consider becoming a vendor. He brought in Donnie Freedman to be a partner. Investors included Howard Katz and others. Standard Meat returned to full family ownership in 2019.
Today, the company has plants in Dallas, Ponder, Saginaw, and another under construction in the Fort Worth Stockyards.