Roy Rogers Restaurants facts for kids
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Trade name
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Roy Rogers Restaurants |
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Formerly
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RoBee's Roast Beef (1967-1968) |
| Wholly owned subsidiary | |
| Industry | Restaurants |
| Founded | February 12, 1968 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States |
| Founder | Azar's Big Boy restaurants |
| Headquarters |
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United States
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Number of locations
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41 |
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Area served
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West Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia |
| Products | |
| Services | Franchising |
| Revenue |  US$159 million (2019) |
| Owner | Plamondon Companies |
| Parent |
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Roy Rogers Restaurants is a chain of fast food restaurants. You can find them mostly in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern parts of the United States. The chain started when a company called Marriott Corporation bought a restaurant chain named RoBee's House of Beef in 1968.
Marriott decided to rename these restaurants after the famous cowboy, Roy Rogers. At its busiest, there were over 600 Roy Rogers locations. As of September 2022, there are 41 restaurants.
The Roy Rogers chain was sold in 1990 to Imasco, which also owned Hardee's. Many Roy Rogers restaurants then changed into Hardee's. In 2002, a company called Plamondon Companies bought the Roy Rogers name.
Roy Rogers' menu includes hamburgers, roast beef sandwiches, and fried chicken. They also offer nine side dishes, like french fries, and different drinks. Many locations also serve breakfast.
Contents
The Story of Roy Rogers Restaurants
How It Started: RoBee's and Marriott (1967–1968)
In 1967, a restaurant group called Azar's Big Boy started a chain called RoBee's House of Beef in Indiana. The Marriott Corporation bought RoBee's in February 1968. Marriott wanted to make the chain much bigger across the country.
At that time, there were 13 RoBee's restaurants in six states. Marriott planned to offer RoBee's franchises to other Big Boy restaurant owners first.
In January 1968, another roast beef chain, Arby's, sued RoBee's. Arby's said that "RoBee's" sounded too much like "Arby's." Because of this, the restaurants needed a new name. Marriott wanted a name that people would easily recognize.
Bob Wian, who started Big Boy, was friends with Roy Rogers' agent. He suggested that Marriott ask Roy Rogers if they could use his name. Roy Rogers was already interested in working with a restaurant chain. He agreed to Marriott's offer. He would get paid for using his name and for visiting the restaurants. The restaurants would be called "Roy Rogers Roast Beef Sandwich" restaurants.
Many Big Boy restaurant owners agreed to become Roy Rogers regional owners. These included Abdow's, Frisch's, Elias Brothers, Marc's, and Shoney's. These companies helped spread Roy Rogers across the Northeastern, Midwest, and Southern U.S. Roy Rogers restaurants also opened in Canada.
Marriott divided the U.S. into 33 areas for franchises. Owners in these areas had to open a certain number of restaurants.
The very first Roy Rogers restaurant opened in April 1968 in Falls Church, Virginia. Another opened in Bethesda, Maryland. These first spots were actually old "Jr. Hot Shoppes," which was Marriott's existing fast-food chain. In May 1968, the original RoBee's locations also began to change to Roy Rogers.
Roy Rogers himself visited restaurants in the Southern U.S. He shook hands with fans and gave out signed photos. TV commercials for Roy Rogers Restaurants were filmed near where Rogers lived in California.
The chain grew quickly in 1968. By October 1968, there were 38 restaurants open. Marriott thought there would be over 700 Roy Rogers restaurants in four years. By June 1969, 105 locations were open. However, growth slowed down in 1970. Marriott stopped offering new franchises because some locations were losing money. By September 1972, only 172 restaurants were open. This was much less than they had hoped for.
In 1982, Marriott bought the Gino's restaurant chain. They changed 180 of these restaurants into Roy Rogers. This helped Roy Rogers grow more in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. area.
The Hardee's Era (1990)
In 1990, Marriott sold the Roy Rogers chain to Imasco. Imasco was the company that owned Hardee's. Hardee's wanted to expand into the Mid-Atlantic region.
Many Roy Rogers locations that Marriott owned were changed into Hardee's restaurants. Some of these Hardee's still sold Roy Rogers' fried chicken. But customers were not happy about the changes. The restaurants tried to sell new flame-broiled hamburgers, but they were not like the original Roy Rogers burgers and didn't do well.
Hardee's eventually sold the remaining Roy Rogers locations to other companies like McDonald's and Wendy's. This left only 13 Roy Rogers franchise owners. They had about two dozen standalone restaurants. There were also locations in travel plazas along highways.
Before Hardee's bought Roy Rogers, the fries were cooked in a mix of beef fat and vegetable oil. Hardee's changed this to only vegetable oil.
Plamondon Companies Takes Over (2002)
In 1997, CKE Restaurants bought Hardee's from Imasco. But Imasco kept the Roy Rogers name and franchise system. After three years of talks, Imasco finally sold Roy Rogers to Plamondon Enterprises in 2002. The company was relaunched as Roy Rogers Franchise Company, LLC.
Plamondon Companies had already opened a new Roy Rogers restaurant in Frederick, Maryland, in 2000. When they bought the chain, there were 63 Roy Rogers franchises in nine states.
Plamondon Companies had been a Roy Rogers franchise owner since 1980. They started leading the way in creating new food items and training staff. The company is run by Jim Plamondon and Peter Plamondon, Jr. Their father, Peter Plamondon, Sr., was in charge of Marriott's restaurant division when Roy Rogers was first created. Plamondon Companies is a private company based in Frederick, Maryland.
Important Dates in Roy Rogers History
- 1968: Marriott buys the RoBee's roast beef chain. They change the name to Roy Rogers because of a problem with the Arby's name.
- 1968: The first Roy Rogers restaurant opens in Falls Church, Virginia.
- 1970: Marriott stops offering new Roy Rogers franchises because some stores are not doing well.
- 1970s: The Roy Rogers chain faces challenges under Marriott. Many restaurants open, but not as many as planned.
- 1982: Marriott buys the Gino's restaurant chain and changes many of them into Roy Rogers.
- 1989: Marriott decides to sell its fast-food chains, including Roy Rogers. They want to focus on restaurants in airports and along highways.
- 1990: There are 648 Roy Rogers locations, mostly in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states.
- 1990: Marriott sells Roy Rogers to Hardee's for $365 million.
- 1990: Hardee's changes 220 Roy Rogers locations into Hardee's.
- 1992: Hardee's changes 220 former Roy Rogers locations back to Roy Rogers.
- 1994-1996: Hardee's sells many company-owned Roy Rogers restaurants to Boston Market, Wendy's, and McDonald's.
- 1996: Only 13 Roy Rogers franchise owners remain. They operate about 152 locations.
- 2002: Imasco sells the Roy Rogers name rights to Plamondon Enterprises, Inc.
- 2003: Roy Rogers Franchise Company starts a plan to grow the chain again.
- 2021: Roy Rogers plans to expand more. They want to open new locations in the Mid-Atlantic and other states.
- 2021: Roy Rogers partners with One Holland Corp. to open 10 new locations in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.
What Roy Rogers Offers
Most Roy Rogers restaurants serve food like typical fast-food places. But some locations, especially those in highway rest-stops, serve food in a cafeteria-style way. This means customers push their trays along a rail. They pick up pre-wrapped hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and roast-beef sandwiches.
A special thing at all Roy Rogers locations is the Fixin's Bar. This bar has many different toppings and sauces. So, when you get your sandwich, it comes plain. Then you can add things like ketchup, BBQ sauce, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and onions yourself! Many locations also offer hand-dipped milkshakes made with Edy's Ice Cream.
Popular items on the menu are the roast beef sandwiches and fried chicken. The fried chicken was advertised by Roy Rogers using a cartoon character named "Pappy Parker." Other special items include the Gold Rush chicken sandwich. This has fried chicken, bacon, Monterey Jack cheese, and a honey BBQ sauce. There's also the Double-R Bar Burger, which is a cheeseburger with ham. For side dishes, they have french fries, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes with gravy, and baked beans.
Where to Find Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers Restaurants are located in six states. Here's how many locations are in each state:
- West Virginia: 1
- Maryland: 23
- New Jersey: 2
- New York: 1
- Pennsylvania: 7
- Virginia: 7
As of August 2022, there are 41 Roy Rogers restaurants in total.
