Nostalgic Restaurant Series #10 - LUMS
Lum's was founded in 1956 in Miami Beach, Florida by Stuart and Clifford Perlman when they purchased Lum's hot dog stand for $10,000.
"Lum's began aggressively expanding and franchising; the signature item was hot a hot dog steamed in beer." [Wikipedia]
1969 was a big year for Lum's, as they were admitted to the New York Stock Exchange and also purchased Caesar's Palace for $60M.
Lum's sold its food operations to a group of investors in 1971, led by John Y. Brown (chairman of KFC). At that time, the company owned and franchised 400 stores in the Unites States and Europe (the chain peaked at about 450 locations).
In 1978, Wienerwald Holdings, A.G., a Swiss holding company and parent of the Wienerwald restaurant chain, purchased the now 273-unit chain from the investor group. "Wienerwald had overextended itself and was forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1982. Two Jahn-controlled Lum's franchises were also forced to close all of their 70 Lum's locations and file for bankruptcy." [Wikipedia]
The original Lum's closed its doors in 1983 and for many years there was only one location left in Bellevue, Nebraska. The final location closed its doors in mid-2017.
