George Webb Restaurants facts for kids
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| Restaurant Franchise | |
| Industry | Restaurants |
| Founded | May 1948 |
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Number of locations
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31 |
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Area served
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United States (Wisconsin only) |
| Products | Breakfast foods, hamburgers and sandwiches, soups, chili, and premium blend coffee |
| Services | Made-To-Order Food |
George Webb Corporation is a chain of restaurants in Wisconsin, United States. They have 31 locations. It started as one small lunch counter. Now, George Webb restaurants are full-service family places. They serve fresh breakfasts, hamburgers, sandwiches, soups, chili, and coffee.
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The Story of George Webb Restaurants
In May 1948, George Webb opened his first restaurant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was called "George Webb and Sons." It was a family business. George, his wife Evelyn, and their three sons, Jim, Tom, and Bob, all worked there.
In 1953, George's son, Jim Webb, became the first person to own a George Webb restaurant as a franchise. This means he ran one of the restaurants using the George Webb name and system. George Webb passed away in 1957. Jim Webb then became the head of the company. He helped the business grow a lot from the 1960s to the 1980s. In 1985, Jim Webb sold the successful chain to Dave Stamm. Dave had been a franchise owner with the company for over 30 years.
George Webb Today
In 2005, Dave Stamm gave control of the company to Philip Anderson. Philip Anderson had run a successful business selling rubber seals before. George Webb celebrated its 60th birthday in 2008. At that time, the company faced some money problems. Philip Anderson helped the company get through this tough time. In 2008, George Webb had 40 locations. Nine of these were owned by the company itself.
Later, a bank called M&I Bank owned George Webb for a short time. In 2010, Philip Anderson bought the company's assets from the bank. George Webb asked its franchise owners to sign new agreements. This helped make all restaurants have the same menus and rules. In 2011, six George Webb restaurants left the chain. They became "Griddlers Cafe" restaurants. By late 2018, only two of these Griddlers Cafes were still open.
Fun Gimmicks at George Webb
George Webb was known for his fun and silly ideas, called "gimmicks." The restaurants still keep this tradition alive. You might see signs at their locations with funny sayings. For example, "Free rabbit lunch tomorrow" or "pay $10.00 for 1,893 pennies."
Why Two Clocks?
George Webb Restaurants are famous for having two clocks side by side in every restaurant. There are two stories about why this started.
One story says that George Webb had many clocks on the wall. This was so customers who used a nearby streetcar could always know the time. He had clocks set to the time in different places around the world. But the streetcar made the building shake so much that most of the clocks fell off!
Another story says there was a local rule. It said no business could be open 24 hours a day. So, Webb put up two clocks. He set them one minute apart. This way, the company was technically "closed" for one minute on one clock, but not on the other. Webb would say his restaurants were open "23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds, seven days a week and on Sundays." Today, all George Webb locations are open 24 hours a day, every day, except on holidays.
Baseball Prediction Game
George Webb Restaurants are also famous for a special baseball prediction game. This game started in the 1940s and still happens today. George Webb loved baseball. Every year, he would predict that the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team would win many games in a row.
When the Boston Braves team moved to Milwaukee in 1953, he continued this idea as a way to get attention. He printed napkins that said, "George Webb's predicts the Braves will win 12 straight games." The Braves left Milwaukee in 1965. But when the current Milwaukee Brewers team started in 1970, he kept the prediction going.
While George Webb never promised free hamburgers if the team won 12 straight games, something amazing happened on April 19, 1987. The Brewers won their 12th game in a row! They actually went on to win 13 games in a row. Because of this, George Webb gave away 168,194 hamburgers over three days!
Sometimes, George Webb's also offers a special deal. If the Brewers score 5 runs or more in any game, you can get 5 burgers for just $5. This offer is good from the moment the 5th run is scored until midnight the next day. For spring training games, they often make the deal available for a longer time.
On October 12, 2018, the Brewers won their 12th game in a row again! This happened during a playoff game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. George Webb announced that they would honor the free burger deal on October 18.
