Arby's Restaurant Group, Inc. is the second largest quick-service sandwich
chain in the U.S. with more than 3,400 restaurants system wide.
Roark Capital Group acquired the company in July 2011 and owns 81.5% of the
company, with The Wendy's Company owning the other 18.5%. In addition to its
classic Roast Beef and Beef 'n Cheddar sandwiches, Arby's products also include
deli-style Market Fresh line of sandwiches, Curly Fries and Jamocha
Shakes. Its headquarters is in Sandy Springs, Georgia.
As of December 31, 2013, there were 956 company-owned restaurants and 2,448
franchised restaurants. There are international locations in four
countries outside of the United States: Canada, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and
Qatar. History
Arby's was founded in Boardman, Ohio, in July 23, 1964 by Forrest and Leroy
Raffel, owners of a restaurant equipment business who believed there was a market
opportunity for a fast food franchise based on a food other than hamburgers.
The brothers wanted to call their restaurants "Big Tex", but that name was
already used by an Akron business. Instead, they chose the name "Arby's",
based on R. B., the initials of Raffel Brothers.
The Raffel brothers opened the first new restaurant in Boardman, Ohio, just
outside of Youngstown, on July 23, 1964. They initially served only roast beef
sandwiches, potato chips, and soft drinks. A year later, the first Arby's
licensee opened a restaurant in Akron, Ohio. The famous Arby's "hat" was
designed by the original sign makers, Peskin Sign Co. Expansion to other
states began in 1968, beginning in Pittsburgh and Detroit. The restaurants
were initially designed to be more upscale than their hamburger
competitors. During the 1970s, the expansion of
Arby's took place at a rate of 50 stores per year. During this time it created
several menu items, including the Beef 'n Cheddar, Jamocha Shakes, Curly Fries
and two signature sauces: Arby's Sauce and Horsey Sauce. In 1981 it added
chicken along with opening store number 1,000. It became the first restaurant in
the fast food industry to offer a complete "lite" menu in 1991 with
several sandwiches and salads under 300 calories and 94 percent fat free.
In 1984, Southeastern Public Service Company, a DWG Corporation subsidiary,
purchased Arby's. With a new owner of DWG Corporation and a new name, Triarc
Companies, Inc., a former PepsiCo executive, Don Pierce, was brought in to
"resurrect" Arby's. With $100 million additional funding, Pierce moved to a
new "Roast Town" concept, similar in format to Boston Market. In 1997, the
Roast Town concept received poor marks in market tests. Pierce and his team
left the company and it sold all of its 354 company-owned locations to RTM
Restaurant Group, an existing Arby's franchise, for $71 million.
In 2002, Arby's returned to operating restaurants by purchasing the second
largest Arby's franchisee, Sybra Inc., with 293 locations out of bankruptcy
outbidding RTM so as to prevent RTM from becoming too large. RTM was purchased by
Arby's on July 25, 2005. In 2008, Triarc purchased Wendy's, and
changed its name to Wendy's/Arby's Group, to reflect their core businesses.
In January, 2011, it was announced that Wendy's/Arby's Group were looking into
selling the Arby's side of the business to focus on the Wendy's brand. It was
officially announced the companies would split on January 21, 2011. On June 13,
2011, Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc. announced that it would sell the
majority of its Arby's chain to Roark Capital Group, maintaining an 18.5%
stake in the company. Products
In addition to roast beef, deli style sandwiches, called "Market Fresh
Sandwiches," are sold at Arby's. The original lineup of sandwiches included
Roast Beef and Swiss, Roast Turkey and Swiss, Roast Ham and Swiss, and Roast
Chicken Caesar. With the exception of the Chicken Caesar, all Market Fresh
Sandwiches came with the standard toppings of spicy brown honey mustard,
mayonnaise, red onion rings, green leaf lettuce, tomato slices and sliced Swiss
cheese. Additions to the Market Fresh lineup included Roast Turkey Ranch and
Bacon and the Ultimate BLT. Another sandwich, the LTO Market Fresh Five-Star
Club, served on Harvest White Bread, was offered for a limited time, but did not
remain on the menu. The line was again expanded to include other styles of
specialty sandwiches, the Italian Beef and Provolone and Pot Roast sandwich,
served on baguettes. In early 2006, Arby's Restaurant Group
signed a contract with Pepsi, making Pepsi the chain's exclusive soft drink
provider. When franchisees' contracts expire with Coca-Cola, they will be
required to switch to Pepsi-Cola, the only exception was the Arby's located at
Youngstown State University because the University has its own separate contract
with Coca-Cola for other university purposes, particularly the athletic
department. This Arby's closed in mid-2012 when construction began to
convert the location into a Wendy's. In October 2013, Arby’s introduced its
most successful offering, the Smokehouse Brisket sandwich.
In September 2014, Arby's introduced gyros to its menu for a limited time.
Global locations Current Arby's locations:
Canada Qatar
Turkey United Arab Emirates
United States Former Arby's countries:
Australia Mexico
Ecuador Brazil
Chile Japan
Netherlands Poland
United Kingdom Jordan
Egypt Indonesia
Kuwait Philippines
Malaysia Portugal
Bahamas Legal issues
In November 2002, Access Now filed a lawsuit against RTM, then a franchise of
TriArc, that some 800 of their stores did not comply with the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990. The lawsuit had no liability damages except for
lawyer fees. In August 2006, the court accepted the settlement between RTM and
Access Now. The result is every year 100 of the RTM stores are retrofitted to
comply with the ADA. Accordingly, it is estimated that about $1.2 million will
be spent to retrofit those stores each year.
See also References
External links Arby's official website