Howard Johnson's - #12
Go ahead...say it. This is a hotel chain, not a restaurant chain. Well, you are partially correct.
Howard Deering Johnson opened the first Howard Johnson's restaurant in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1925.
"The first Howard Johnson's restaurant received a tremendous boost in 1929, owing to an unusual set of circumstances: Malcolm Nichols, the mayor of nearby Boston, banned the production of Eugene O'Neill's play, Strange Interlude in Boston. Rather than fight the mayor, the Theatre Guild moved the production to the Wollaston Theatre in Quincy. The five-hour play was presented in two parts with a dinner break. The first Howard Johnson's restaurant was near the theater, and hundreds of influential Bostonians flocked to the restaurant. Through word of mouth, more Americans became familiar with the Howard Johnson Company." [Wikipedia]
Fighting through the Great Depression, Johnson persuaded a friend to open, what is considered to be, one of the first franchised restaurants in 1935.
As the U.S. entered WWII, there were over 200 locations but the war took its toll on business, shrinking the chain to 12 locations by 1944. With an aggressive expansion after the War, Howard Johnson's grew to 400 locations in 32 states by 1954.
1954 is also the year that the first motor lodge opened (hotel to you youngsters). With the company turned over to his 28-year old son in 1959, Howard Johnson's went public in 1961 with 605 restaurants (265 company-owned) and 88 motor lodges.
"By 1975, the Howard Johnson Company had more than 1,000 restaurants and more than 500 motor lodges in 42 states and Canada. The company reached its peak that year, but the late 1970s marked the beginning of the end for the Howard Johnson Company. Because of the oil embargo of 1973, the Howard Johnson's restaurants and motor lodges, which received 85% of revenue from travelers, lost profits when Americans could not afford long trips or frequent vacations." [Wikipedia]
In 1979 the company was acquired by Imperial Group PLC out of London for $630M (1040 restaurants and 520 motor lodges).
While the Lodges still exist (fewer than 140), the restaurants do not. Marriott's acquisition of the company in 1982 cause the closure of all company restaurants with the franchisees spinning off into their own organization. Struggling to survive through the 80s and 90s, there were less than 8 locations left by 2005. In September of 2016 the last restaurant closed.
Note: A restaurant existed in Lake George that claimed to be the "last Howard Johnson's restaurant standing" but this was questioned by most. Regardless, this location closed in March of 2022.
