| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Restaurants |
| Founded | Youngstown, Ohio (July 23, 1964) |
| Founder(s) | Forrest and Leroy Raffel |
| Headquarters | Sandy Springs, Georgia, U.S. |
| Number of locations | 3,600 (approx.) |
| Area served | USA and Canada |
| Key people | Hala Moddelmog, President Diana Tao, COO John Dasis, CFO[1] |
| Products | Fast food Sandwiches (roast beef • chicken) • milkshakes • salads • french fries |
| Services | franchising |
| Revenue | US$ 1.2637 billion (2007)[2] |
| Operating income | US$ 9.4 million (2007)[2] |
| Net income | US$ 16.1 million (2007)[2] |
| Employees | 25,000 (2005)[3] |
| Parent | Roark Capital Group (81.5 %); Wendy's Company(18.5 %) |
| Website | arbys.com |
Arby's is a fast food restaurant chain in the United States and Canada. Roark Capital Group owns 81.5% of the company, with Wendy's Company owning the other 18.5%. It is primarily known for selling roast beef sandwiches and curly fries. The Arby's menu also includes chicken sandwiches, appetizers, salads, Market Fresh (deli-style) sandwiches, wraps, and submarine sandwiches. Its headquarters are in Sandy Springs, Georgia.[4][5]
There are more than 3,600 Arby’s restaurants. As of December 30, 2010, there were 1,169 company-owned restaurants, 2,367 franchised and 125 international locations, principally in Canada. There are also locations in Qatar, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. It also owns the franchise T.J. Cinnamons that, as of December 2007, has 243 locations with 225 multi-branded with company stores. They are currently only franchising the T.J. Cinnamons brand.[2]
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Arby's was founded in Boardman, Ohio, in 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 being used by an Akron business. Instead, they chose the name "Arby's," based on R. B., the initials of Raffel Brothers*.[6]
The Raffel brothers opened the first new restaurant in Boardman, Ohio, just outside 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 signmakers, Peskin Sign Co.[7] Expansion to other states began in 1968, beginning in Pittsburgh (the closest large out-of-state market to Youngstown) 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 BBQ sauce and horsey sauce. By 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.[6]
In 1984, Southeastern Public Service Company, a DWG Corporation subsidiary, purchased Arby's.[8] 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 move to a new "Roast Town" concept like Boston Market. In 1997, the Roast Town concept received poor marks in market tests. Triarc moved Pierce and his team out the door along with all the company owned locations to become a pure franchiser. Arby's sold their locations to RTM Restaurant Group, an existing Arby's franchise, for $71 million for 354 units.[9]
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.[9] RTM was purchased by Arby's on July 25, 2005.[10]
In 2008, Triarc purchased Wendy's, and changed its name to Wendy's/Arby's Group, to reflect their core businesses.[11].[12]
In January, 2011, it was announced that Wendy's/Arby Group were looking into selling off the Arby's side of the business to focus on the Wendy's brand.[13] It was officially announced the companies would split on January 21, 2011. [14] 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 a 18.5% stake in the company.[15]
Under the direction of the Doner Company (known as W.B. Doner & Co. at the time), the chain created the Oven Mitt as a mascot in the early 2000s. It appeared on the company's television commercials and print advertisements. He was voiced by actor Tom Arnold.
As of 2011 Arby's is currently using the slogan "It's Good Mood Food" with television and radio commercials built around this theme. The campaign features actor Andrew Breving as R.B., the company spokesperson[16].
Arby's sponsored NASCAR driver Matt Kenseth for 13 races in the Nationwide Series in 2007. Kenseth won 2 races, with 15 Top 5 finishes, 2 poles and a 10th Place finish in points. Kenseth also had an 11th place finish in Arby's only Sprint Cup Series race in the 2007 Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. In 2008 Arby's returned to sponsor Car #17 and Matt Kenseth in 2 Nationwide Series Races. Kenseth won at Atlanta and finished 5th at Kansas. Arby's big promotion was if Kenseth won the race on Saturday, the following Monday Arby's would give away free curly fries at all of their restaurants. Arby's did not return to NASCAR in 2009.
In February 2006, Arby's became the first national fast food chain to claim to not use any artificial additives in its chicken products; along with this claim came an advertising campaign which criticized Wendy's, McDonald's and Burger King for their use of additives such as water, salt and phosphates in their chicken products.
In November 2006, Arby's announced that they were eliminating all trans-fats from their menu, to be implemented by May 2007, being the first major fast-food restaurant to do so.
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,[17] the lone exception being the aforementioned 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.
Like many companies they own several trademarks for their products. These include "Arby's", "Arby's Market Fresh", "Market Fresh", "Horsey Sauce" and "Sidekickers".[2]
Current Arby's locations:
Former Arby's countries:
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 ADA. 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 ADA. Accordingly it is estimated that about $1.2 million will be spent to retrofit those stores each year.[2]
The foundation is the Arby's Foundation. It selected the national Big Brothers Big Sisters of America as its chief charity. Part of the foundation's work involves the national Arby's Charity Tour that has raised $21 million at amateur golf tournaments since 1996. As a result of this work and donations from 2,500 stores, the foundation has contributed over $25 million to Big Brothers Big Sisters.[18]