Franchise Update Magazine Issue III, 2015 | Page 18

ANATOMY OF A BRAND
BY JIM PLAMONDON

THE REBIRTH OF
ROY ROGERS
W

Larger-than-life brand rides back into town

hen I got into the family business in 1995, the Roy Rogers
chain was a smaller version of
the regional QSR powerhouse it once had
been. Hardee’s had purchased the brand
from Marriott in 1990, largely for the
real estate, and began a process of closing,
converting, or selling off many of its 648
locations. By the early 2000s, the store
count was down to about 80.
To me and my brother, Pete Jr., the decline of Roy Rogers was personal. Our dad,
Pete Sr., was part of the Marriott executive
team that had created the concept in 1968.
It was an exciting time. Roy Rogers was
this iconic, larger-than-life cowboy, devoted
to Western principles, faith, and family
values. He was a popular entertainer and
Marriott built upon his persona to create
and rapidly grow the franchise.
My dad was committed to the brand,
leaving Marriott to become one of the
chain’s earliest franchisees. Roy Rogers

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restaurants became, for us, part of the
family, a way of life. And so we developed
a stronger bond than most, a sense of duty
to protect and grow the brand.
But the brand was under duress. There
was little training provided for managers. Franchisees weren’t following brand
standards consistently, and they weren’t
paying royalties or making marketing
contributions so there were minimal
marketing initiatives going on. Operators weren’t renovating restaurants or
making capital improvements. Many sites
weren’t being maintained to the level they
should have been. Put simply, the brand
needed direction.
All things considered, however, our
sites were performing well, thanks to the
popularity of the brand and our team taking the initiative to compensate for what
was lacking in franchisor support. We had
hired staff to train managers ourselves,
and we would invite other franchisees

to send their managers to train in our
headquarters as well. We hired our own
firm to do marketing. In April 1998, with
our locations on an uptick, my brother
and I bought my father’s business, which
consisted of 14 restaurants. The entire
system probably had a total of 80 to 90
restaurants at the time.
Our efforts paid off. We maintained
and even increased volumes, even as other
locations were closing. Then, in 2000, we
opened a new restaurant in Germantown,
Md., replacing a Burger King site that was
clearly a C location for that chain. The
lines were out the door—50 people deep.
The drive-thru line was 30 cars deep. It
was unbelievable. People were coming in
from all around the D.C. metro area, even
from downtown Washington, celebrating
the fact that Roy Rogers was back. By our
estimates, in our first year we more than
tripled what the previous restaurant in the
space had done in sales.

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