An Onalaska, Wis.-based company that owns two score of McDonald’s restaurants in the Midwest has purchased the one on North Bridge Avenue.

And it will be remodeled. The company president said Wednesday that the remodeling work begins Monday.

Courtesy Corp. also bought two McDonald’s restaurants in Austin. All three were purchased effective Wednesday from Austin resident Dave Scherer, who owns McDonald’s restaurants on Main Street in downtown Albert Lea, at Trail’s Travel Center on the east edge of Albert Lea and one in Clear Lake, Iowa. He purchased the Albert Lea restaurants in 1990.

Courtesy Corp. President Rick Lommen was in Albert Lea on Wednesday to work the lunch hour with his new crew.

He said he cannot ask people to do work if he hasn’t worked side by side with them. He said training is a big part of Courtesy Corp., and said “we can only do that by working shoulder to shoulder with our people.”

The McDonald’s at 2808 N. Bridge Ave. is 20 years old. Lommen said it will be remodeled to have a contemporary feel, much like the downtown McDonald’s. The downtown McDonald’s was built anew and opened its doors in December 2007 with a theme called “Forever Young,” part of the first major redesign for McDonald’s locations nationwide since the 1970s.

McDonald’s is headquartered in Oak Brook, Ill. It is the franchisor for its restaurants and it must OK transactions of restaurants with its name. Lommen said the corporation this keeps its franchisee owners geographically close to their restaurants. He couldn’t, for instance, own McDonald’s restaurants in Minnesota and buy some in California.

In this way, the ownership knows their communities, he said.

Albert Lea is “a great community, and we’re very excited to be here,” Lommen said.

Courtesy Corp. now owns 42 McDonald’s restaurants in western Wisconsin, southern Minnesota and in Decorah, Iowa.

He said the remodeling of the North Bridge Avenue restaurant will include flatscreen televisions and wi-fi access. He also said he liked the restaurant’s proximity to Interstate 90. He said he would be competing more with the restaurants near the interchange, rather than the downtown McDonald’s that Scherer owns.

Courtesy Corp. this spring plans to build a new McDonald’s to replace the one at 1009 W. Oakland Ave. in Austin, which is 40 years old. Lommen said it is the busiest of the three he purchased. The one at 1402 14th St. in Austin is seven years old.

The amount paid for the three restaurants was not disclosed.

Courtesy Corp. celebrates a golden anniversary this year. Lommen’s father, Dick Lommen, began working as a teenager at a McDonald’s in La Crosse, Wis., in 1959. He had his degree in business administration, and instead of attending law school, he bought that McDonald’s in the spring of 1969 after its owner died. Dick Lommen is now 65 and is chairman of the company board.

The family has connections to southern Minnesota. Dick’s parents had a dairy farm near Spring Grove. According to the La Crosse Tribune, his father died when he was 5, and his mother moved the family to La Crosse when he was 7.

Rick Lommen noted that he has relatives in Austin.

He said he hopes to strengthen ties to the McDonald’s charities, such as the Ronald McDonald Houses. Courtesy also offers scholarships and, he said, takes seriously its role as the first job for many people. He said there is room for careers with Courtesy and said he realizes many work at a McDonald’s and move on, too.

He said Courtesy has an emphasis on training and works to teach “life skills” that stay with workers the rest of their careers, whether they remain with Courtesy Corp. or go elsewhere. Appearance, being on time and hospitality are among the skills emphasized, he said.

Rick Lommen said he started with his father’s company doing maintenance and has since worked every spot on a restaurant crew and in management.

He said he knew about the opportunity to buy the three restaurants after being approached by Scherer. Courtesy entered the Minnesota market eight years ago after buying five McDonald’s restaurants in Rochester. The company has 3,000 employees.

Art Scherer opened the McDonald’s on Oakland in Austin 40 years ago, said Dave Scherer.

While some of Scherer’s employees transferred locations when the purchase happened, no employees new to Courtesy Corp. were let go. In fact, Lommen talked about adding employees.

Dave Scherer’s grandmother, Dorothy Irish, opened the first McDonald’s of the family in Mason City, Iowa, in 1959.

When his father retired, Dave Scherer purchased the Oakland restaurant from him. In 2002, he opened another McDonald’s near Ankeny’s Mini Mart. Scherer purchased the McDonald’s in downtown Albert Lea in 1990.