[UA] Burger Research

[Jonathan]

Turns out, when laziness competes, you win.  I'm tired
of doing what I'm supposed to be doing, so I did some
burger/franchise research instead.  

Enjoy, bitches!

White Castle is America's oldest fast-food chain,
founded in 1921.  

An imitator, White Tower, was founded in 1926, and is
now most remembered for its distinct architecture.

Orange Julius was founded in 1926.  Not necessarily a
major player, it's basically a smoothie place that was
bought by Dairy Queen in 1987 and now appears housed
with DQ restaurants in various places.  Julius Caesar?
 The Queen looking to shore up her royal pedigree?

Krystal, a (to me) similar place to White Castle, was
founded in 1932.  I included this one due to the name
being reminiscent of fine crystal (like ritzy folks
have), as well as being similar to the expensive drink
of choice for Hip Hop artists these days. Symbolism
and all that.

McDonald's was founded by the MacDonald brothers in
1940 and became Ray Kroc's evil empire in 1955.

Burger Chef was founded in 1954 under another name,
becoming Burger Chef in 1956.  In the late '50's this
chain introduced the first "value-combo" as well as a
"fun meal," pairing a child's meal with a small toy. 
The chain was purchased by Hardees, presumably when
Hardees was owned by Imasco.  

Jack in the Box, the rival clown, was founded in 1957
and has its franchises mostly in the west (Texas and
California).  This chain also owns QDoba Mexican
Grill.

Hardees was founded in 1960.  Hardees is noticeable
for a couple of promotional lines, most memorably (to
me), the California Raisins and a line of Smurfs
Glassware.  In addition, Hardees was eventually sold
to a company called Imasco (maybe out of Canada, I
can't find the reference to it again), after which it
endured a fairly significant decline.  In 1997 it was
sold to CKE, who also owns Carl's Jr., and has adopted
many of the advertising and menu items from that
chain.

Burger Queen was founded in the early 60's in
Louisville, KY (approx. 45 min. away from me). It was
eventually converted to Druthers, and then sold to
Dairy Queen.  

Roy Rogers Family Restaurant was founded in 1968 and
operated through 1990, at which time it was purchased
by Hardees and converted to Hardees restaraunts. 
Hardees was still owned by Imasco at that time.  When
Imasco sold the Hardees chain to CKE in 1997, it
retained ownership of Roy Rogers.

Wendy's was founded in 1969 and in 1970 installed the
1st Drive-Through window.  In 1988 they also
introduced the 1st value menu.  Wendy's is also noted
for its 1984 ad campaign, "Where's the Beef?" the
original ad of which seemed to be aimed primarily at
Burger King's Whopper. 

Crown Burgers (not familiar with this chain) was
founded in 1978.  The chain is primarily in the Salt
Lake City area and is notable not only for the name
but in that the restaurants are often themed,
primarily being decorated as a European hunting lodge.

Other Chains of Interest:

Long John Silver's--founded in 1969 in Lexington, KY,
(about 35 minutes from me) the original LJS is now a
McDonald's.  

Starbucks--Founded in 1971, given the chain's current
ubiquity, I find the "woman with crown" logo
interesting.

Finally, and I haven't done any research for it, but
Kentucky Fried Chicken was also founded in Kentucky,
and all the restaurants currently under the YUM Brands
company have their headquarters in Louisville.  

There's more to tease out there, but I was assigned a
project, so I have to work on that instead.  

Take this and run with it!

Jonathan


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