Roy Rogers Restaurants

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Roy Rogers
Type Wholly owned subsidiary
Founded 1968 in Falls Church, Virginia, USA
Headquarters Frederick, Maryland, USA
No. of locations 51 (approx.)
Key people Roy Rogers (Chain's namesake),
Jim Plamondon and Peter Plamondon, Jr. (Co-Presidents, Roy Rogers Franchise Company, LLC)
Industry Fast food
Products Fast food (including Hamburgers, Roast beef sandwiches, Fried chicken, and French fries)
Revenue ▲ unknown USD (2008)
Net income ▲ unknown USD (2008)
Employees unknown (2008)
Parent Plamondon Companies
Website www.royrogersrestaurants.com

Roy Rogers Restaurants is a Northeastern United States chain of fast food restaurants founded by the Marriott Corporation in 1968 in Falls Church, Virginia. As of June 2008, Roy Rogers has approximately 51 locations. In 2002, the Plamondon Companies purchased the trademark from Imasco, the former parent of Hardee's. Under the new owners the company is headquartered in Frederick, Maryland.[1]

Roy Rogers' menu consists primarily of hamburgers, roast beef sandwiches, fried chicken, french fries and beverages. The company's primary target customer is adults and most items are prepared to order for each guest.

Contents

[edit] Corporate profile

[edit] History

Roy Rogers is a chain of U.S. fast-food family restaurants, numbering over 650 at its peak, named for cowboy actor Roy Rogers. Marriott Corporation founded the chain to replace their older Jr. Hot Shoppes fast-food chain. They licensed the name from Roy Rogers and operated the restaurants from 1968 through 1990. The first location opened in 1968 in the Bailey's Crossroads section of Falls Church, Virginia on the corner of Leesburg Pike and Carlin Springs Road. The location is now a McDonald's.

Roy Rogers' picture hangs in every restaurant.
Roy Rogers' picture hangs in every restaurant.

In 1982, Marriott Corporation bought the Gino's restaurant chain for $48.6 million. The company converted 180 of the 313 restaurants to Roy Rogers[2] to expand in the Baltimore/Washington area. In 1990, Marriott sold the chain for $365 million to Hardee's, a Southern chain seeking to expand into the Mid-Atlantic market. Hardee's converted the remaining non-franchised locations into Hardee's restaurants; many of the new Hardee's continued to feature Roy Rogers' popular fried chicken. The conversion of the Roy Rogers chain ended in a customer revolt so serious that they actually aborted the whole idea and returned the Roy Rogers brand to stores initially converted.[3] The restaurants promoted new flame broiled hamburgers, but it was not the same as the original Roy Rogers products and they later failed.

Roy Rogers' logo after Hardee's conversion back.
Roy Rogers' logo after Hardee's conversion back.

Hardee's finally sold the remaining Roy Rogers locations to McDonald's, Wendy's and Boston Market leaving just 13 Roy Rogers franchisees in existence, with approximately two dozen free-standing locations, in addition to locations owned by HMSHost that were located inside travel plazas along highways in the Northeast.

A Roy Rogers Restaurant currently operating at the Indian Castle Service Plaza on the New York State Thruway.
A Roy Rogers Restaurant currently operating at the Indian Castle Service Plaza on the New York State Thruway.

Popular items on the menu are roast beef sandwiches and fried chicken, which is very similar to the "Pappy Parker's" recipe that was served in Marriott's old Hot Shoppes chain. Other signature items at Roy Rogers, along with standard fare such as burgers, milkshakes and fries, are the Gold Rush chicken sandwich (a fried chicken breast with bacon, a slice of monterrey jack cheese, and a honey-based BBQ sauce) and the Double R Bar Burger (a cheeseburger with ham). The sides featured at Roy Rogers, other than french fries, include baked potatoes, mashed potatoes with gravy, baked beans, coleslaw, side salad, fruit cup, and baked apples.

Roy's Fixin's Bar contains all of the condiments for their hamburgers.
Roy's Fixin's Bar contains all of the condiments for their hamburgers.

Though standard Roy Rogers locations served food in a typical fast-food fashion, some locations (such as the locations that were formerly Hot Shoppes Jr.) and the franchises located throughout Mid-Atlantic highway rest-stops would serve the food in a cafeteria-style. Customers would push their trays on rails past stations stocked with prewrapped packages of hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and roast-beef sandwiches. A popular feature of this chain in any of the locations was the Fixin's Bar which featured numerous condiments. Because of this, sandwich items were delivered without any of the customary garnishes. After selecting and paying for these items, patrons could garnish them to their own taste at the Fixin's Bar with such items as ketchup, BBQ sauce, mayonnaise, horseradish sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and onions. Some locations also feature Hershey's Ice Cream.

[edit] Key Dates

  • 1968: The first Roy Rogers opens in Falls Church, Virginia.[4]
  • 1970’s: Roy Rogers chain flourishes under Marriott. Several hundred franchised and company units open.[4]
  • 1982: Marriott purchases the Gino's restaurant chain for $48.6 million and converts many of the restaurants to Roy Rogers.[5]
  • 1982: Marriott threatens to take the Riese family, a franchisee, to court when they discovered the Riese's were reserving space for Häagen Dazs and Godfather's Pizza in a property slotted for a Times Square Roy Rogers restaurant.[6]
  • 1980’s: Franchisee Plamondon Enterprises, Inc. opens 7 and acquires 3 Roy Rogers locations.[4]
  • 1990: A total of 648 Roy Rogers locations are in operation—primarily in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states.[4]
  • 1990: Marriott sells Roy Rogers to Hardee’s, subsidiary of Imasco, for $365 million.[4]
  • 1990: Hardee’s converts 220 Roy Rogers to Hardee’s.[4]
  • 1992: Due to customer loyalty, Hardee's reconverts 220 locations back to Roy Rogers.[7]
  • 1994: Hardee's sells 84 company-owned Roy Rogers restaurants in the Philadelphia region to Boston Market for $22 million.[8]
  • 1995: Hardee's sells 45 company-owned Roy Rogers restaurants in New York region to Wendy's International Inc.[9]
  • 1996: Hardee's sells 184 company-owned Roy Rogers restaurants in the Baltimore/Washington region to McDonald's for $74 million.[10]
  • 1996: Only 13 Roy Rogers franchisees remain[4] operating a total of about 152 units through the Northeast, including 48 units in highway travel plazas and 15 in New York City.[11]
  • 1997: CKE Restaurants (Carl’s Jr.) acquires Hardee’s from Imasco. Imasco retains Roy Rogers trademark[4] due to a franchisee lawsuit.
  • 1997: The Riese family, now franchisees of 18 Roy Rogers restaurants, sues CKE Restaurants and Imasco for $10 million, claiming the Roy Rogers chain has been destroyed through "a series of marketing errors of epic proportions."[12]
  • 1997: CKE enters into a management agreement for the six Roy Rogers restaurants currently operated by Hardee's. CKE also agrees to perform services relating to the continued franchise operations of the Roy Rogers restaurant chain for $1.5 million over three years.."[13]
  • 1990’s: Franchisee Plamondon Enterprises, Inc. opens 2 and acquires 3 Roy Rogers locations.[4]
  • 2000: Plamondon Enterprises, Inc. opens a new Roy Rogers prototype unit in Frederick, Maryland.[4]
  • 2001: Plamondon Enterprises, Inc. develops and opens a new Roy Rogers unit in Germantown, Maryland.[4]
  • 2002: Imasco sells Roy Rogers trademark rights to Plamondon Enterprises, Inc. (Roy Rogers Franchise Co).[4]
  • 2003: HMSHost (formerly Host Marriott Services) signs agreement to continue operating Roy Rogers in travel plazas.[4]
  • 2003: Roy Rogers Franchise Company unveils its “Roy Rogers Rides Again!” refranchising growth initiative.[4]
  • 2004: Roy Rogers opens in Gaithersburg, MD.[4]
  • 2004: Todd Restaurants, Inc. sign new long-term Pioneer Franchise Agreement for it's four Roy Rogers locations in Alexandria, VA.[4]
  • 2005: +SmithGifford, a nationally recognized advertising agancy and one of the fastest growing ad firms in the Washington, DC area is slected as the agency of record for Roy Rogers Restaurants.[4]
  • 2006: Roy Rogers Restaurants rank 4th in the Franchise Times "20 to Watch in 2006."[4]
  • 2007: Roy Rogers opens in Ranson, WV and Westminister, MD.[4]
  • 2007: Super Value, CT, LLC enters into a long-term Franchise Agreement for a Roy Rogers location in North Stonington, CT.[4]
  • 2008: Roy Rogers Restaurant opens in North Stonington, CT on January 24, 2008.[4]

[edit] Plamondon Companies

A Roy Rogers Restaurant in Westminster, Maryland owned by the Plamondon Companies remodeled in 2007.
A Roy Rogers Restaurant in Westminster, Maryland owned by the Plamondon Companies remodeled in 2007.

Plamondon Companies took the lead among franchisees in developing products, hosting training sessions and shooting new food photography for their stores. Plamondon Companies is run by Jim Plamondon and Peter Plamondon Jr., the two sons of Peter Plamondon Sr., head of the restaurant division at Marriott when the Roy Rogers brand was created. Roy Rogers was relaunched as a Frederick, Maryland based company in 2002 when Plamondon Companies bought the trademark and franchise system from Imasco, the former owner of Hardee's.[14] In 1997, CKE Restaurants acquired Hardee's from Imasco, but Imasco held on to the Roy Rogers trademark and franchise system. Plamondon negotiated with Imasco for about three years before a private purchase agreement was reached.[15]

Based in Frederick, Maryland, The Plamondon Companies own and operate 17 Roy Rogers Restaurants, 34 franchise locations, and four Marriott hotel properties. In 1980, The Plamondon Companies opened its doors with their first Roy Rogers restaurant. Today the group owns 17 of the existing 51 restaurants and plans to continue its expansion throughout the northeast region.[16]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Plamondon Buys Roy Rogers Trademark
  2. ^ A History of Gino's Hamburgers
  3. ^ tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Roy Rogers Timeline
  5. ^ Marriott Gino's Bid Backed By Boards
  6. ^ Branding An Empire
  7. ^ History
  8. ^ Boston Chicken buys 84 Roy Rogers units; Hardee's exits Philadelphia, restates commitment to stronger markets
  9. ^ Company News; Hardee's is set to sell its Roy Rogers Restaurants
  10. ^ Pact set on buying Roy Rogers sites for $74 million
  11. ^ Hardee's sale to McDonald's hangs up Roy Rogers' spurs
  12. ^ Riese sues Imasco, CKE over Roy Rogers
  13. ^ Cke Restaurants Inc · 424B1 · On 7/11/97
  14. ^ Roy's Franchisee Triggers Rebirth
  15. ^ A burger and a shake-up
  16. ^ Welcome to Roy Rogers

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Rogers_Restaurants"
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