Howard Johnson's
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| Type | division of Wyndham Worldwide |
|---|---|
| Industry | Lodging |
| Founded | Quincy, Massachusetts (restaurants) Savannah, Georgia (motels) |
| Founder(s) | Howard Deering Johnson |
| Number of locations | 1000+ (motels) 2 (restaurants) |
| Area served | United States |
Howard Johnson is a chain of hotels and restaurants located primarily throughout the United States and Canada. Founded by Howard Deering Johnson, it was the largest restaurant chain in the US throughout the 1960s and 1970s, with over 1,000 company owned and franchised outlets.
Howard Johnson hotels are now part of Wyndham Worldwide. Howard Johnson's restaurants are franchises which license food and beverage rights from La Mancha Group LLC of New York.
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History [edit]
Early years [edit]
After borrowing $2,000 in 1925 to buy and operate a small corner drugstore in Wollaston, a neighborhood in Quincy, Massachusetts, Johnson was surprised to find it easy to pay back the money lent to him after discovering his recently installed soda fountain had become the busiest part of his drugstore. Eager to ensure that his drugstore would remain successful, Johnson decided to come up with a new ice cream recipe. Some sources say the new recipe was based on his mother's homemade ice creams and desserts,[1][2] while others say that the new recipe was from a local German immigrant,[3] who either sold or gave Johnson the new ice cream recipe. Regardless, the new recipe made the ice cream more flavorful due to an increased content of butterfat. Eventually Johnson came up with 28 flavors of ice cream. Johnson is quoted as saying, "I thought I had every flavor in the world. That '28' (flavors of ice cream) became my trademark."[4]
The Howard Johnson's company was founded toward the end of 1925. From then on, the Howard Johnson name would become a recognizable part of American popular culture.
Throughout the summers of the late 1920s, Johnson opened up concession stands on beachfront property along the coast of Massachusetts. The stands sold soft drinks, hot dogs, and ice cream. Each stand proved to be successful. With his success becoming more noticeable every year, Johnson was able to convince local bankers to lend him enough money to operate a sit-down restaurant. Negotiations were made and toward the end of the 1920s the first Howard Johnson's restaurant opened in Quincy, Massachusetts. The first Howard Johnson's restaurant featured fried clams, baked beans, chicken pot pies, frankfurters, ice cream, and soft drinks.
In 1929, both the first Howard Johnson's restaurant and Howard Johnson's company received an incredible break due to an unusual set of circumstances: The Mayor of nearby Boston, Malcolm Nichols, prohibited the planned production of Eugene O'Neill's play, Strange Interlude, from performing in his city. Rather than fight the Mayor, the Theatre Guild moved the production to Quincy. The five-hour-long play was presented in two parts with a dinner break. The first Howard Johnson's restaurant happened to be near the theater; hundreds of influential Bostonians flocked to the restaurant. Through word of mouth, more Americans became familiar with the Howard Johnson's company.
Expansion in the 1930s and 1940s [edit]
Johnson wanted to expand his company, but the stock market crash of 1929 prevented him from doing so. After waiting a few years and maintaining his business, Johnson was able to persuade an acquaintance in 1932 to open a second Howard Johnson's restaurant in Orleans, Massachusetts. The second restaurant was franchised and not company-owned. This was one of America's first franchising agreements.
By the end of 1936, there were 39 more franchised restaurants, creating a total of 41 Howard Johnson's restaurants. By 1939, there were 107 Howard Johnson's restaurants along various American East Coast highways, generating revenues of $10.5 million. In less than 14 years, Johnson directed a franchise network of over 10,000 employees with 170 restaurants, many serving 1.5 million people a year.
The unique icons of orange roofs, cupolas, and weathervanes on Howard Johnson properties helped patrons identify the chain's restaurants and motels. The restaurant's trademark Simple Simon and the Pieman logo was created by artist John Alcott in the 1930s.[2]
When the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Ohio Turnpike, and New Jersey Turnpike were built, Johnson bid on and won exclusive rights to serve drivers at service station turnoffs through the turnpike systems. There were 200 Howard Johnson's restaurants when America entered World War II.
By 1944, only 12 Howard Johnson's restaurants remained in business. The effects of war rationing had crippled the company. Johnson managed to maintain his business by serving commissary food to war workers and United States Army recruits.
In the process of recovering from these losses, in 1947 the Howard Johnson's company began construction of 200 new restaurants throughout the American Southeast and Midwest. By 1951, the sales of the Howard Johnson's company totaled $115 million.
Entering the hotel business [edit]
By 1954, there were 400 Howard Johnson's restaurants in 32 states, about 10% of which were extremely profitable company-owned turnpike restaurants; the rest were franchises. This was one of the first nationwide restaurant chains.
While many places sold "fried clams," they were whole, which was not universally accepted by the American dining public. Howard Johnson popularized Soffron Brothers Clam Company's fried clam strips: the "foot" of hard-shelled sea clams. They became popular to eat in this fashion throughout the country.[5][6]
That year, the company decided to open the first Howard Johnson's motor lodge in Savannah, Georgia. The company employed architects Rufus Nims and Karl Koch to oversee the design of the rooms and gate lodge. Nims had previously worked with the company designing restaurants. The restaurant's trademark Simple Simon and the Pieman was now joined by a lamplighter character in the firm's marketing of its motels. According to cultural historians, the chain became synonymous with travel among American motorists and vacationers in part because of Johnson's ubiquitous outdoor advertising displays.[7]
In 1959, Howard Deering Johnson, who had founded and managed the company since 1925, turned the reins over to his son, then 26-year-old Howard Brennan Johnson. The elder Johnson would observe his son's control of the company until his death in 1972 at the age of 76.
Howard Johnson's Company went public in 1961; there were 605 restaurants, 265 company owned and 340 franchised, as well as 88 franchised Howard Johnson's motor lodges in 32 states and the Bahamas.
In 1961, Johnson hired famed New York chefs Pierre Franey and Jacques Pépin to oversee food development at the company's main commissary in Brockton, Massachusetts. Franey and Pépin developed recipes for the company's signature dishes that could be flash frozen and delivered across the country, guaranteeing a consistent product.
New chains and a changing public [edit]
In the early 1960s, H B Johnson tried a new concept for his father's company with the creation of a steakhouse restaurant chain called Red Coach Grills. Only a handful would open and, while they maintained some success, it wasn't profitable enough. Eventually all the Red Coach Grills closed.
In 1969, Johnson once again tried a new restaurant concept, Ground Round. It proved to be successful. Though it was not a Howard Johnson's restaurant, the Ground Round chain of restaurants were company-owned and -franchised, thus increasing the Howard Johnson's company profit. By 1975 the Howard Johnson's company had over 1,000 restaurants and over 500 motor lodges in 42 states and Canada.
The company reached its peak in 1975, but the late 1970s would mark the beginning of the end for the Howard Johnson's company. Because of the oil embargo of 1974, the Howard Johnson's restaurants and motor lodges, which maintained 85% of revenues from travelers, lost profit when Americans couldn't afford to drive long trips or take frequent vacations. Also, the company model of serving pre-made food with high quality ingredients in traditional dining rooms was costly when compared to the innovations introduced by fast food outlets like McDonald's, which designed its products and restaurants to appeal to families with younger children.
The company also suffered from two infamous incidents at a property in downtown New Orleans within 18 months of one another. The first was a July 1971 fire, set by two irate guests who had been kicked out of the hotel, which killed six people. The second, in January 1973, was a harrowing day-long siege, as former Black Panther Mark Essex used the roof of the hotel as a sniper's perch, killing three New Orleans Police Department officers, the hotel's general manager and assistant general manager, and a couple from Virginia on a belated honeymoon, while also wounding police officers, firefighers and civilians.
Johnson attempted to streamline company operations and cut costs, such as serving cheaper food and having fewer employees. It proved disastrous as guests were finding this new era of Howard Johnson's restaurants and motor lodges unsatisfactory, compared to the services they had come to know for years.
Desperate to make the company more successful and profitable, Johnson created other concepts, such as HoJos Campgrounds and 3 Penny Inns for lodging, as well as Deli Baker Ice Cream Maker, Chatt's, and Bumbershoot's for restaurants. All of these concepts failed, furthering the company's demise.
In the late 1990s, the Howard Johnson's Candy Factory and Executive Offices in Wollaston were purchased and renovated by the Eastern Nazarene College to form the Adams Executive Center.[8]
Changes in ownership [edit]
In 1979, Johnson accepted an acquisition bid from Imperial Group PLC of England and sold the Howard Johnson's company to G. Michael Hostage for over $630 million. That money would remain in the Johnson family estate, as would the chain of Ground Round restaurants, which became an independent venture after the sale of the Howard Johnson's company.
Hostage would be the last man ever to control the Howard Johnson's company. Imperial Group PLC obtained, circa 1979, all of the remaining 1,040 restaurants (75% company owned/25% franchised) and 520 motor lodges (75% franchised/25% company owned). After years of failed attempts to make it more profitable and successful, Hostage sold the Howard Johnson's company to Marriott Corporation in 1985.
Marriott was more interested in the motor lodges than the restaurants. While all of the company-owned and -franchised motor lodges remained untouched, Marriott quickly took all of the company-owned restaurants and had them either demolished or converted into other restaurant chains. The number of Howard Johnson's restaurants remaining circa 1985 was shortened as only the franchised restaurants would remain untouched.
One year later, in 1986, Marriott sold all of the company-owned and -franchised motor lodges to Prime Motors Inns. Prime Motors Inns continued to preserve the lodges, just as Marriott had. In 1990, Prime Motors Inns ceased operations.
Those involved with the company-owned and franchised motor lodges banded together and formed the "Howard Johnson Acquisition Corporation." They successfully obtained all the rights to operate and maintain the company-owned and -franchised lodges. With these rights maintained, they changed their name to "Howard Johnson International Incorporated," which became a subsidiary of "Hospitality Franchise Systems Incorporated," which eventually merged with other companies to form Cendant. In 2006, Cendant sold itself off and HFSI became part of Wyndham Worldwide.
Wyndham operates the Howard Johnson brand under many "tiers" based on price, level of amenities, and services offered. Howard Johnson Express Inns, Howard Johnson Inns,Howard Johnson Hotels, and Howard Johnson Plaza Hotels range from limited-service motels to full-service properties with on-site concierges and business centers. Howard Johnson recently has begun offering its "Rise 'N' Dine" continental breakfast.[9]
While the Howard Johnson's company-owned and franchised motor lodges have stood the test of time since being sold by the Howard Johnson's Company in 1979, the restaurants have not. Because Marriott took control and eliminated all of the company-owned restaurants, the owners of the franchised restaurants, fearing elimination, banded together in 1986 while Marriott was selling the motor lodges to Prime Motors Inns. The new company that the owners of the franchised restaurants created was called "Franchise Associates Incorporated" or (FAI). In 1986, Marriott gave FAI the rights to operate and maintain Howard Johnson's restaurants. While the Howard Johnson's restaurant chain was preserved, FAI did not have enough money to expand with new Howard Johnson's restaurants.
When Cendant acquired the Howard Johnson's motor lodges, they offered to work together with FAI to ensure the expansion of the restaurant chain. With the exception of opening a new Howard Johnson's ice cream parlor in Puerto Rico, FAI never opened a new restaurant or expanded the restaurant chain. Instead, an already built and operating restaurant in Canton, Massachusetts was remodeled to serve as the prototype for a new era of Howard Johnson's restaurants. The concept failed and, after less than a decade of operation, the prototype restaurant closed in 2000.
2000s [edit]
FAI ceased operations in 2005. Cendant acquired the rights to operate and maintain the remaining Howard Johnson's restaurants. In 2006 Cendant sold them to La Mancha Group LLC.[10]
As of June 2012[update], only two Howard Johnson's restaurants remain, both dating to the original Howard Johnson's company, one in Lake Placid, New York, the other Bangor, Maine.[10][11]
References [edit]
- ^ Sugars, Bradley J. (2005). Successful Franchising: Expert Advice on Buying, Selling and Creating Winning Franchises. McGraw-Hill Professional. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-07-146671-4. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
- ^ a b Hinckley, Jim; Robinson, Jon G. (2005). The Big Book of Car Culture: The Armchair Guide to Automotive Americana. MotorBooks/MBI. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-7603-1965-9. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
- ^ Boyett, Joseph H.; Boyett, Jimmie T. (2002). The Guru Guide to Entrepreneurship: A Concise Guide to the Best Ideas from the World's Top Entrepreneurs. John Wiley and Sons. p. 275. ISBN 978-0-471-43686-7. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
- ^ The Nation's Business (1968). Lessons of Leadership: 21 Top Executives Speak Out on Creating, Developing, and Managing Success. Doubleday. p. 48.
- ^ "Thomas Soffron, 96, Creator of Clam Strips". New York Times. 28 February 2004. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
- ^ Sovich, Nina (1 May 2004). "Clam King". CNN. Retrieved 18 September 2012. "Like many famous Greeks, and not a few New Englanders, Thomas Soffron found his fortune at sea. An immigrant from Calamata, Greece, Soffron invented clam strips: battered and fried slices from the "foot" of hard-shelled sea clams (which held up better when frozen than did the coastal variety). For years Soffron Brothers Clam Co., based in Ipswich, Massachusetts, served as the exclusive supplier of clam strips to the Howard Johnson's restaurant chain, which sold the whole country on this Down East delicacy. Few HoJo's are left, but the clam strip's enduring popularity stands as its creator's legacy. Soffron died on February 21 at age 96 in Ipswich, his hometown."
- ^ "Rubenstein Library / ROAD / 1920-1929 (Outdoor Advertising Timeline: 1920-1929)". Duke Libraries. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
- ^ "Cecil R. Paul Center for Business". Eastern Nazarene College. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
- ^ "Howard Johnson Tiers". Howard Johnson International. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
- ^ a b Chesto, Jon (22 July 2009). "Fading HoJo's chain seeks new knight in shining armor". Milford Daily News. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
- ^ "And then there were two". HoJoLand: Serving up Warm Memories of an American Icon. 4 June 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
Further reading [edit]
- Carayannis, Elias G.; Ziemnowicz, Christopher (2007). "The Case of Howard Johnson's Restaurant Chain: Schumpeter's Creative Entrepreneurial Beginning and "Innovation-less" Ending". Rediscovering Schumpeter. Palgrave Mcmillan. ISBN 978-1-4039-4241-8.
External links [edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Howard Johnson's |
- Official site
- America's Landmark—Under the Orange Roof HoJo site with guides to locations of existing restaurants, history of former locations, etc.
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