IHOP
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2010) |
 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Restaurants |
| Founded | July 7, 1958[1][2] Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Founders | Jerry and Al Lapin, Jr. |
| Headquarters | Glendale, California, U.S. |
Number of locations | 1,650 |
Area served | North America, Middle East |
Key people | Julia Stewart (Acting President) Russell Findlay VP Marketing |
| Products | Breakfast foods Pancakes • Waffles • French Toast Lunch • Dinner • Sandwiches |
| Revenue |  US$349.6 million (2006)[3] |
| US$72.8 million (2006)[3] | |
| US$44.5 million (2006)[3] | |
Number of employees | 32,300 (2007)[3] |
| Parent | DineEquity |
| Website | www.ihop.com |
International House of Pancakes, usually known as IHOP (/ˈaɪhɒp/) is a United States-based multinational pancake house/fast casual family restaurant chain that specializes in breakfast foods. It is owned by DineEquity, with 99% of the restaurants run by independent franchisees.[4] While IHOP's focus is on breakfast foods such as pancakes, French toast, and omelettes, it also offers a menu of lunch and dinner items. The company has 1,650 locations in the United States and Canada. In August 2012, it opened its first franchise in Dubai as part of a major expansion into the Middle East restaurant market.[5] A second IHOP restaurant in the Middle East opened in Kuwait in February 2013.[6]
History
Jerry Lapin, Al Lapin, and Albert Kallis founded International House of Pancakes in 1958 with the help of Sherwood Rosenberg and William Kaye. The first restaurant opened on July 7, 1958, at 4301 Riverside Drive in Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, California.[1]
The location is coincidentally across from the oldest remaining Bob's Big Boy restaurant. Albert Kallis was a professional artist who designed the film posters of American International Pictures in the 1950s. Director Bert I. Gordon recalled that Kallis designed their logo[7] and left poster artwork.
The menu later expanded (especially in the 1980s) to include (along with breakfast foods) standard lunch and dinner items found in similar restaurant chains such as Denny's. From 1959 to 1975, it was the flagship division of International Industries, a holding company which also owned the Orange Julius refreshment stands.[8]
In 1973, the chain's name was shortened to "IHOP" for marketing purposes, and since then the full name and acronym have been officially interchangeable.<[1] From 1976 onward, the company increasingly favored the acronym.[8]
Franchising agreements with M.H. Alshaya, an international restaurant-franchising firm, resulted in an agreement for Alshaya to open as many as forty IHOP locations in the Middle East, beginning in 2012. By the end of 2013, IHOP restaurants operated in three Middle Eastern countries: Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.[9]
Buyout of Applebee's
On July 16, 2007, IHOP Corporation stated its desire to acquire the bar-and-grill chain Applebee's International, Inc. in an all-cash transaction, valued at approximately US$3.1 billion. Under the deal, IHOP would pay $25.50 per share for Applebee's. IHOP stated it would franchise most of Applebee's 500 company-owned facilities. Applebee's had 1,943 restaurants worldwide at the time, including those operated by franchisees.[10]
With a larger than 70% vote, the company approved the undertaking of this enterprise, which closed on November 29, 2007. The deal beat 26 other offers to purchase the flagging Applebee's. A number of executives from Applebee's voted against the offer. The chain's largest individual shareholder, Applebee's director Burton "Skip" Sack, stated he planned to take IHOP to court to demand a higher amount of money to be paid to him because the purchasing price that IHOP offered is unfair to the shareholders of Applebee's. As part of the purchase, a brand remarketing scheme and revitalization of the Applebee's image was intended.[11] The buyout successfully closed on November 29, 2007,[12] and the corporate entity IHOP changed its name to DineEquity on May 28, 2008.[13]
Legal case
In early September 2010, IHOP filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles against International House of Prayer and six other defendants alleging trademark dilution and infringement.[14] The lawsuit was dropped on December 21, 2010, with the dispute resolved out of court.[15]
See also
- Golden Nugget Pancake House
- List of pancake houses
- Pancake house
- The Original Pancake House
- Walker Brothers
- Waffle House
References
- ^ a b c "IHOP History". IHOP. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
- ^ "WKTV.com - IHOP celebrates its 57th anniversary with 57 cent short stacks". WKTV. 2015-07-06. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
- ^ a b c d e Joe Bramhall. "IHOP Corp". Hoovers. Retrieved 2007-11-20.
- ^ "DineEquity, Inc. - Brands". dineequity.com.
- ^ "Middle East gets its first IHOP location".
- ^ "first restaurant opens in Kuwait".
- ^ Marty McKee, Marty Bert I. Gordon Interview March 15, 2003
- ^ a b IHOP history from Funding Universe website
- ^ "DineEquity,Inc. - Investor Relations - News Release". dineequity.com.
- ^ "IHOP to Buy Applebee's for About $1.9B".
- ^ Adamy, Janet (October 31, 2007). "IHOP's Tall Order: Reviving Applebee's". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ "IHOP completes purchase of Applebee's". Kansas City Business Journal. November 29, 2007.
- ^ "IHOP Changes Name To DineEquity >IHP". The Wall Street Journal. [dead link]
- ^ Bradley, Donald (Sep 14, 2010). "IHOP (the pancake-maker) sues IHOP (the prayer center) over trademark". Kansas City Star.
- ^ Glendale News-Press, (December 29, 2010) Pancake versus prayer dropped
External links
