Roy Rogers Restaurants

Roy Rogers Franchise Company, LLC
Wholly owned subsidiary
Industry Fast food
Founded 1968
Headquarters Frederick, Maryland, US
Number of locations
51
Key people
Roy Rogers (Chain's namesake),
Jim Plamondon and Peter Plamondon, Jr. (Co-Presidents, Roy Rogers Franchise Company, LLC)
Products Fast food (including Hamburgers, Roast beef sandwiches, Fried chicken, and French fries)
Parent Plamondon Companies
Website royrogersrestaurants.com

Roy Rogers Franchise Company, LLC is a Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States chain of fast food restaurants founded by the Marriott Corporation in 1968 in Falls Church, Virginia. As of August 2015, Roy Rogers had 51 stores: 20 corporate and 31 franchised. 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.[2]

Roy Rogers' menu consists primarily of hamburgers, roast beef sandwiches, fried chicken, french fries and beverages.

History

Roy Rogers' picture hangs in every restaurant.
Roy Rogers' logo after conversion back from Hardee's.

Roy Rogers is a chain of U.S. fast-food family restaurants, numbering over 650 at its peak, named after cowboy movie actor Roy Rogers. Marriott Corporation founded the chain to replace their older Hot Shoppes Jr. fast-food chain, most of which were then converted. 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 (5603 Leesburg Pike), not far from the Hot Shoppes on Columbia Pike. That Roy Rogers is now a McDonald's. Another Jr. Hot Shoppes that became a Roy Rogers was at 5214 River Road, in Bethesda, Maryland, directly across the street from the original headquarters of Marriott Corporation. Marriott senior executives and members of the Marriott family were frequent patrons of the location (the site is also now a McDonald's).

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 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 again. Hardee's converted the remaining non-franchised locations into Hardee's restaurants; many of the new Hardee's continued to feature Roy Rogers' fried chicken. The conversion of the Roy Rogers chain ended in a customer revolt so serious that they actually aborted the idea and returned the Roy Rogers brand to stores initially converted.[3] The restaurants promoted new flame-broiled hamburgers, but they were not the same as the original Roy Rogers products and they later failed.

Hardee's finally sold the remaining Roy Rogers locations to McDonald's, Wendy's and Boston Market between 1994 and 1996. This left 13 Roy Rogers franchisees, with two dozen free-standing locations, in addition to locations owned by HMSHost in travel plazas along highways in the Northeast.

Filming for the first television commercials advertising Roy Rogers Restaurants took place in the Apple Valley, California area where Rogers lived with his family. In 1968 and 1969, Rogers and friends, Earl Bascom[4] and Mel Marion, were filmed at various locations including the historic Las Flores Ranch in Summit Valley and the Campbell Ranch in Victorville.

New ownership, relaunch

Roy Rogers Restaurant in Westminster, Maryland, in a former Gino's building, owned by the Plamondon Companies, remodeled in 2007.
Roy Rogers Restaurant in Germantown, Maryland owned by the Plamondon Companies, opened in 2009.

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 Roy Rogers Franchise Company, LLC in 2002 when Plamondon Companies bought the trademark and franchise system from Imasco, the former owner of Hardee's.[5] 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 three years before a private purchase agreement was reached in 2002.[6] The first new Roy Rogers restaurant after many years of decline was opened in Frederick, Maryland by Plamondon in 2000.[7]

Based in Frederick, Maryland, the Plamondon Companies is a privately held company with annual revenues of $20 million.[8] In 1980, the Plamondon Companies opened its doors with their first Roy Rogers restaurant. As of 2012, there are 20 company-owned Roy Rogers Restaurants, while franchisees operate the rest.[9] The company is seeking franchisees to continue Roy Rogers expansion throughout the northeast region.[10]

Key dates

Products and services

Roy Rogers Restaurant 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 was advertised by Roy Rogers under the "Pappy Parker" name in the 1980s using a cartoon prospector (the Pappy Parker name was inherited from Marriott's original Hot Shoppes chain). Other signature items at Roy Rogers are the Gold Rush chicken sandwich (a fried chicken breast with bacon, a slice of Monterey Jack cheese, and a honey-based BBQ sauce) and the Double-R Bar Burger (a cheeseburger with ham). The side items featured at Roy Rogers are french fries, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes with gravy, baked beans, coleslaw, side salad, fruit cup, and baked apples.

Though standard Roy Rogers locations serve food in a typical fast-food fashion, some locations (such as the locations that were formerly Jr. Hot Shoppes) and the franchises located throughout Mid-Atlantic highway rest-stops serve the food in a cafeteria-style. An exception is the Allentown service plaza on the Pennsylvania Turnpike's Northeast Extension, which serves its customers in the typical fast-food fashion since it reopened in May 2008 (the entire service plaza had been rebuilt from its original form, which included cafeteria-style serving).

In the cafeteria-style restaurants, customers push their trays on rails past stations stocked with pre-wrapped packages of hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and roast-beef sandwiches. A feature of this chain in any of the locations is the Fixin's Bar which features numerous condiments. Because of this, sandwich items are delivered without any of the customary garnishes. After selecting and paying for these items, patrons can 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 have Edy's Ice Cream; until 2013 locations had Hershey's Ice Cream. The Franklin, NJ location is also equipped with a Coca-Cola Freestyle machine at its Fixin's Bar.

1984 murder

On the morning of February 4, 1984, 25-year-old assistant manager, Terri Brooks, was found murdered in the kitchen of a Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania location.[34] She was found badly beaten, with a bag over head and a large kitchen knife sticking out of her neck. She was most likely killed the night before, while she was closing the restaurant. The restaurant's safe was open and empty, which led police to believe she was killed by two unknown men who had robbed three other fast food locations in the area the previous week. [35] However, after the men were later captured, they were able to provide solid alibi's for the night Brooks died. The case went unsolved for 15 years, until DNA ruled Brooks' then-fiance, Alfred Keefe, as the killer. In 2000, Keefe was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.[36] The case was featured on Cold Case Files, as well as various Investigation Discovery shows. The building has since been converted into a McDonald's-BP gas station combo.

Locations

As of October 2015, there are 51 total Roy Rogers Restaurants in 6 states:[37]

See also

References

  1. http://www.royrogersrestaurants.com/Index.cfm
  2. allbusiness.com (2002-08-21). "Plamondon Buys Roy Rogers Trademark". Retrieved 2009-06-25.
  3. 99w.com (2009-01-01). "tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption". Retrieved 2009-06-25.
  4. http://www.desertdispatch.com/article/20140728/NEWS/140729959/11669/NEWS?template=printart
  5. retailtrafficmag.com (2005-06-01). "Roy's Franchisee Triggers Rebirth". Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  6. washington.bizjournals.com (2003-11-14). "A burger and a shake-up". Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  7. washingtontimes.com (2008-04-12). "Roy Rogers pulls franchising trigger". Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  8. washington.bizjournals.com. "Plamondon Enterprises Inc.". Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  9. hoovers.com. "Roy Rogers Franchise Company, LLC". Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  10. thefranchisemall.com. "Roy Rogers". Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  11. washingtonpost.com (2009-06-28). "Fairfax Judge Presided Over 'Roy Rogers' Murder Case". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  12. nytimes.com (1982-01-08). "Marriott Gino's Bid Backed By Boards". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-06-25.
  13. rieserestaurants.com. "Branding An Empire". Archived from the original on May 29, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-25.
  14. nytimes.com (1995-07-21). "Murray Riese, 73, Restaurateur Who Developed the Food Court". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  15. nytimes.com (1989-12-19). "Marriott Plans Retreat From Fast-Food Wars". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  16. nytimes.com (1990-01-31). "Company News; Roy Rogers Chain Is Sold to Hardee's". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  17. geocities.com/roy_rogers_wb. "History". Archived from the original on 2009-10-22. Retrieved 2009-06-25.
  18. nytimes.com (1992-03-09). "The Media Business: Advertising -- Addenda; Roy Rogers Account To Jordan, McGrath". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  19. findarticles.com (1992-04-13). "Powell returns to Roy Rogers as president". Nation's Restaurant News. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  20. findarticles.com (1994-01-17). "Boston Chicken buys 84 Roy Rogers units; Hardee's exits Philadelphia, restates commitment to stronger markets". Nation's Restaurant News. Retrieved 2009-06-25.
  21. nytimes.com (1995-12-16). "Company News; Hardee's is set to sell its Roy Rogers Restaurants". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-06-25.
  22. nytimes.com (1996-08-03). "Pact set on buying Roy Rogers sites for $74 million". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  23. findarticles.com (1996-08-12). "Hardee's sale to McDonald's hangs up Roy Rogers' spurs". Nation's Restaurant News. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  24. findarticles.com (1997-06-30). "Riese sues Imasco, CKE over Roy Rogers". Nation's Restaurant News. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  25. http://www.thefranchisemall.com/news/articles/12790-0.htm
  26. thecaldorrainbow.blogspot.com (2009-01-22). "Roy Rogers Rides No More In Manchester". Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  27. fastfoodnyc.com (2009-05-08). "Dinner at New York City's Last Roy Rogers". Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  28. deldot.gov. "New I-95 Welcome Center Travel Plaza To Open in 2010" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-10-11.
  29. washingtonpost.com (2010-06-28). "Delaware rest stop deal a boon for HMSHost, but it raises questions about federal law". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-09-17.
  30. Roy Rogers. "Roy Rogers® Restaurant Opens in Waldorf". Retrieved 2014-03-10.
  31. Restaurant News Release. "Roy Rogers Restaurant to Open in Rockville, Maryland". Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  32. "The Last Roy Rogers Fast Food Chain in NYC has closed (restaurants, station)".
  33. East MoCo. "Roy Rogers returning to Aspen Hill". Retrieved 2016-02-23.
  34. http://www.aetv.com/shows/cold-case-files/season-2/episode-7
  35. http://articles.philly.com/1999-02-06/news/25501632_1_first-degree-murder-dna-tests-rubenstein
  36. http://articles.philly.com/2000-06-07/news/25601256_1_dna-evidence-first-degree-murder-judge-john-j-rufe
  37. "Roy Rogers Store List". Retrieved April 11, 2015.
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