Abstract Five Guys’ has evolved from a small family eatery, to one of the largest restaurant chains in America. They haven’t utilized any major marketing methods, but have accomplished this simply by understanding what their customer’s want, and how to consistently provide it. Five Guys’ was founded in 1986 with its original restaurant located in Arlington, Virginia, and quickly became a Washington, D.C. area treasure. It was Jerry and Janie Murrell who presented their four sons with two options, start a business or go to college. The Murrell brothers chose the latter opening their first restaurant location with their parents’ supervision.
In terms of fast food restaurant life span, even twenty-five years in business can seem like an eternity. In an article published in the New York Times, it was reported that instead of advertising heavily, franchising or redesigning stores, White Castle relied on a simple menu of a square little hamburger that die-hard fans would buy by the bagful and devour in one sitting (Siler, 1988). Although the article was published in 1988, much of White Castle’s promotion has remained the same. This paper discusses a number of strategies that have contributed to the sustainability of the White Castle’s hamburger; identifies the intangible aspects such as crave times and company culture which has contributed to the company’s growth; and discusses the marketing strategies that have contributed to the product’s lengthy life cycle in the fast food business. In an article in Investor’s Business Daily, it was revealed that one of the keys to White Castle’s success has been the company’s ability to keep family in management positions.
Taco Bell® was acquired by PepsiCo in 1978. In October of 1997, PepsiCo spun off KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell®, thereby forming Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc., the world’s largest restaurant company. In May of 2002, Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc. changed its name to Yum! Brands, Inc., after acquiring Long John Silver's and A&W All-American Food Restaurants. !
How I Did It: Jerry Murrell, Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Retrieved October 28, 2012, from Inc.com: http://www.inc.com/magazine/20100401/jerry-murrell-five-guys-burgers-and-fries_pagen_2.html Yu, R. (2009, June 08). Fast-growing Five Guys burger chain sticks to basic, fresh food. Retrieved October 28, 2012, from USA Today:
College Writing America has become a “Fast Food nation”, which is what Eric Schlosser, author of the book Fast Food Nation, calls it. Why does he call it this you ask? American has known a hamburger and fries as the “American meal” ever since the early 1920s when White Castle was founded. The McDonald brothers opened their redesigned restaurant in 1948, and several fast-food chains that exist today opened soon after. Burger King and Taco Bell started in the 1950s, and Wendy's opened in 1969.
He opened his second store in Macomb, Illinois. He later opened several more stores and developed a prototype before franchising began in 1993. In January 2007, Liautaud sold a thirty-three percent stock to Weston Presidio, a San Francisco-based private equity firm. He retained sixty-seven percent ownership of the company. In 2010, When the Industrial Workers of the World attempted to unionize ten Minneapolis Jimmy John’s locations, the New York Times called effort “one of the few efforts to organize fast-food workers in American Industry”.
The boys chose the restaurant. Five Guys was originally named for Jerry and his four sons, upon the birth of his fifth son, the company name stayed but now reference his sons. Five Guys Burgers and Fries practice a simply stated mission that is followed up with a simply stated menu. The first statement in the mission of the company is “we are in the business of selling burgers”. This has been the basis for their restaurants since day one and continues into over 1000 company owned and franchised locations.
Three gentlemen of the restaurant business founded Outback Steakhouse in 1987. Chris Sullivan, Bob Basham, and Tim Gannon put this company together in the efforts of producing the top of the line food at a fair price. In the beginning they expected to build five restaurants in one region of Florida, at the end of 1988 sales were $2.7 million from two restaurants and by the end of 1994 they had over 200 restaurants and sales of $594 million system wide. All three of the men had backgrounds in the restaurant business, Chris was a busboy, Bob was a dishwasher, and Tim was a chef. Chris and Bob moved up to executive roles in the Bennigans restaurant group, and found ambition to create their own restaurant.
When President Obama moved to the White House, a Five Guys staffer suggested sending him a T-shirt. “That’s cheap!” Murrell shot back. Playing coy worked, and soon Obama, trailed by TV cameras, stopped by a store. He ordered a cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, fresh jalapeños, and mustard — a classic example of Five Guys’ formula that sells 2 million burgers a week and was named Zagat’s “best fast food burger” for 2010. For this reporter, evaluating the burger first-hand was problematic: I’ve been a vegetarian for more than a dozen years.
Utz, according to a Zappe Endeavors news release, has more than 2,400 in four manufacturing facilities in Hanover, Pa. Zappe Endeavors had been finding ways to grow beyond the region under longtime manager Rod Olson, who took over as president following the death of founder Ron Zappe last year. It had acquired the Dirty Potato Chip line in the mid-1990s and factories in California and Pennsylvania. Zapp’s was founded in 1985 by Zappe, a life-long entrepreneur who turned away from the oilfield after the oil bust and started what would become affectionately known as "The Little Chippery in Gramercy" and one of the state’s most enduring brands. /news/business|112999164 Comments (4) In the mid-1980s, Ron Zappe's fortunes went south. The Houston resident owned small companies supplying pumps and other machines to Texas and Louisiana oil producers.