It was a perfectly ordinary Wednesday when James Purifoy, owner of popular burger joint 15th & Chris in Rockford, Ill., opened the store at 11 a.m.
Then in walked hometown hero Fred VanVleet, fresh off inking a two-year, $18 million contract following a breakout season with the Toronto Raptors, along with Chad Anderson, a prominent car dealership owner in Rockford.
The two informed Purifoy that they would be buying lunch for the first 100 customers of the day. It didn’t take long for word of mouth to spread and for the line to stretch outside of the tiny restaurant.