Unstoppable Japanese Wins Eating Contest Yet Again

The Associated Press reports that a 160-pound super-eater from Japan, Mr. Takeru Kobayashi, has set a new record by devouring 53 3/4 frankfurters in 12 minutes to win the Independence Day hot dog eating competition on Coney Island. That's more than one hot dog every 15 seconds. Don't try that at your Fourth of July family barbeque. A few at that speed just may put you in the hospital. Wall Street thinks the sponsor has a good franchise business too.

The event is supported annually by franchiser Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Stand that also runs restaurants under the Miami Subs, Kenny Rogers Roasters and Arthur Treacher's brand names.

Obviously, some franchise systems know how to have a good time.

Here is a video, care of CNN, of Mr. Kobayashi downing and winning the competition.

Despite all the fun, we would be remiss in our coverage of Nathan's Famous and its activities if we didn't mention the biz; namely, how much on a roll this publicly traded franchiser has been of late (see chart ).

This is what CNN/Money observed about Nathan's:

"Why have investors relished (ha ha!) the opportunity to buy Nathan's? ...Nathan's reported late last month that earnings for its latest fiscal year (which ended in March) rose 38 percent from a year ago, excluding profits realized from a sale of real estate. And sales were up more than 20 percent from last year. In fact, the company's latest annual results were the its best since Nathan's went public in 1993."