The McDonald’s on Larkin Avenue in Elgin is a piece of local lore — the place where owner Jerry Bear helped pioneer the nation’s first dual‑lane drive‑thru, the original sign still peeking from the back of the building, The Courier-News reports. Nearly six decades after Jerry and Marcelle Bear bought that restaurant and launched a multigenerational franchise empire, the family is handing off the Golden Arches and betting on four-legged guests instead.
“We’re fully divesting, which is why we are rebranding,” said David Bear, the company’s owner and president, according to The Courier-News. The South Elgin-based business will become BFRx Hospitality and plans to open eight K9 Resorts — luxury hotel and day-care facilities for dogs — across a protected territory in the Chicago market, including a site in the Elgin area, The Courier-News reports.
A family pivot
The rebrand leans on the company’s history — the “x” nods to an “exponential” expansion into hospitality — while keeping operations rooted in South Elgin, The Courier-News reports. The Bear family business began in 1967 with the Larkin Avenue McDonald’s and grew to more than 30 franchises across the Chicago area, according to The Courier-News.
The transition is already underway. As of late last week, the company had sold nine McDonald’s locations and closed one at Harlem Irving Plaza in Norridge. The remaining 25 restaurants were set to close briefly for inventory and then reopen under multiple new owners — including five in Elgin and two in South Elgin — The Courier-News reports.
The Bears’ new focus is personal, too. David Bear and his wife, Nicole, are lifelong dog people — their Labrador, Henley, gets star billing at home — and they say they want to bring the same family-business commitment they offered in restaurants to pet care, The Courier-News reports. After discovering New Jersey-based K9 Resorts through websites and trade publications, the couple met founders Steven and Jason Parker and quickly decided they wanted in. “They offer a level of passion, professionalism and commitment that’s similar to Ray Kroc’s,” David Bear said, according to The Courier-News.
K9 Resorts was founded in 2005 and began franchising in 2011; it counts 47 locations and more than 100 more in development across 28 states, The Courier-News reports. BFRx intends to launch eight locations in its Chicago-area territory and hopes to open two in 2026 in or near towns where the family previously operated McDonald’s, The Courier-News reports. The only current Chicago-area K9 Resorts is in Deerfield, which opened in June; those owners control a separate part of the market, and Bear said he plans to collaborate with them, according to The Courier-News.
Sizing the market
South Elgin — where BFRx is based — has roughly 24,900 residents, up about 4% from 2020, according to U.S. Census QuickFacts. Households are comparatively affluent, with a median income around $123,700, and the median age is about 39. The community is moderately diverse, including significant non-Hispanic White, Hispanic, Asian, and Black populations, according to Data USA.
Nationally, the pet economy is large and still growing. The American Pet Products Association reports the industry reached about $147 billion in 2023, with food and treats leading the way, according to the American Pet Products Association. Broader pet care is projected to expand at a mid–single-digit pace through 2030, with a roughly 4.8% compound annual growth rate, according to Grand View Research.
What pet owners want
K9 Resorts positions itself as a premium, award-winning dog hotel blending familiar comforts with recreation — a pitch that aligns with consumers’ willingness to spend on services. Even as some retailers wrestle with softer product sales, services and veterinary offerings have been a relative bright spot: Petco’s Services and Other division grew on the back of grooming, vet hospitals, and mobile clinics, signaling a shift toward service revenue, according to Investopedia.
For BFRx, the family is all-in. David and Nicole Bear, cousin Gary Dayan, and the couple’s adult children, Nicole and Adam, are involved in the venture. Bear expects some current staffers to transition as well, earning pet-care certifications and learning resort operations. He plans to be “operationally focused,” learning the business from the ground up, The Courier-News reports.
The realities of scaling up
The opportunity comes with challenges. Workforce tightness has dogged portions of the pet sector: clinics continue to report hiring strains after the pandemic adoption boom, a constraint that can ripple across pet-service providers, according to Axios. As BFRx builds out eight facilities across its territory, staffing, training, and maintaining consistent service standards will be crucial.
Still, the Bears have built and operated at scale before — across drive-thrus, breakfast rushes, and late-night shifts — and they are positioning that experience toward a different kind of hospitality. “I’m looking forward to bringing our high level of service and experience to this part of the marketplace,” David Bear said, according to The Courier-News. With the family’s legacy rooted in Elgin and South Elgin and a national pet industry that continues to expand, the next chapter for BFRx Hospitality will unfold where Midwestern franchise know-how meets the growing demand to pamper people’s pets.
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