Roy Rogers Restaurants is reviving its brand on the East Coast.
The company – named after the legendary actor, singer and “King of the Cowboys” – opened a location in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, last week, marking the chain’s return to the southern New Jersey and Philadelphia markets since the 1990s.
“We are excited to make this long-anticipated return, and Cherry Hill allows us to serve a growing, diverse community and introduce a new generation to the quality and variety that makes Roy Rogers a cut above,” Roy Rogers Restaurants co-President Jim Plamondon said in a statement.
The company thanked Cherry Hill “for the best welcome to the community” on Instagram following its opening and hinted that there is “more to come.”
The Maryland-based chain was founded in 1968. In 1990, Marriott sold the Roy Rogers chain, which had nearly 650 locations, to Hardee’s for $365 million.
After the sale, Hardee’s converted a significant number of the locations to Hardee’s restaurants, and then sold more than 350 restaurants several years later to Boston Chicken, Wendy’s and McDonald’s, according to its website.
Peter Plamondon Sr., a former Marriott executive who became a franchisee of Roy Rogers Restaurants, sold his franchise to his sons, Pete Jr. and Jim, in the late 1990s.
By 2002, the brothers purchased the Roy Rogers brand from Hardee’s parent company CKE Restaurants. The duo have been credited with helping open and operate multiple Roy Rogers restaurants.
In the early 2000s, the restaurant concept was “rebooted” as it began its expansion.
To date, there are 24 company-owned restaurants and 16 franchise restaurants in seven states.
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