| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Restaurants |
| Founded | 1958 |
| Headquarters | Glendale, California, U.S. |
| Key people | Julia Stewart (CEO) Jean Birch (President) |
| Products | Breakfast foods Pancakes • Waffles • French Toast Lunch • Dinner • Sandwiches |
| Revenue | $349.6 million USD (2006)[1] |
| Operating income | $72.8 million USD (2006)[1] |
| Net income | $44.5 million USD (2006)[1] |
| Employees | 32,300 (2007)[1] |
| Parent | DineEquity |
| Website | http://www.ihop.com |
The International House of Pancakes, is a United States-based restaurant chain that specializes in breakfast foods. It is owned by DineEquity, with 99% of the restaurants run by independent franchisees.[2]
While IHOP's focus is on breakfast foods such as pancakes, French toast and omelettes, it also offers a menu of lunch and dinner items.
The chain has more than 1,500 restaurants in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.[3]
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Jerry Lapin, Al Lapin, and Albert Kallis founded IHOP in 1958 with the help of Sherwood Rosenberg and William Kaye. The first restaurant opened on July 7, 1958 at 4301 Riverside Drive in Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, California.[4] The original concept was a restaurant which featured various types of pancakes and similar foods such as crepes and blintzes from all over the world, offered at affordable prices. The chain was also notable (and still is to this day) for their syrups of several different flavors. The menu later expanded (especially in the 1980's) to include (along with breakfast foods) standard lunch and dinner items found in similar restaurant chains such as Denny's. IHOP was owned at one time by a parent holding company which also owned the Orange Julius refreshment stands seen in shopping malls, but that was sold off by the mid-1970's.[5]
Recent advertisement campaigns have featured slogans such as "Just for the fun of it" and "Why not eat breakfast for dinner tonight?". Other ad campaigns have revolved around menu items with Pancake Day. Since 2006, IHOP's National Pancake Day celebration has raised over $1.85 million. In 2008, over 1.5 million pancakes (12 miles high if they were stacked) were given to customers for donations.
IHOP has been accused of animal cruelty and food safety threats by the Humane Society of the United States because of the company's exclusive use of eggs from hens confined in small wire cages known as battery cages.[6] In September 2009 undercover video of IHOP's egg supplier documented decomposing hens in cages with live hens, sick and injured hens in cages with other hens, living and dead hens stuck between cage wires, a worker ripping off the head of a live bird, piles of dead hens in the facilities, and unsanitary conditions throughout the operation.[7]
On July 16, 2007, IHOP Corp. stated its desire to acquire the bar-and-grill chain Applebee's International, Inc. in an all-cash transaction, valued at approximately US$2.1 billion. Under the deal, IHOP would pay $25.50 per share for Applebee's. IHOP stated it would franchise most of Applebee's 500 company-owned facilities. Applebee's had 1,943 restaurants worldwide at the time, including those operated by franchisees.[8]
With a larger than 70% vote, the company approved the takeover, which closed on November 29, 2007. The deal beat 26 other offers to purchase the economically slumping Applebee's. A number of executives from Applebee's voted against the offer. The chain's largest individual shareholder, Applebee's director Burton "Skip" Sack, stated he planned to take IHOP to court to demand a higher amount of money to be paid to him because the purchasing price that IHOP offered is unfair to the shareholders of Applebee's. As part of the purchase, a brand re-marketing scheme and revitalization of the Applebee's image was intended.[9] The takeover successfully closed on November 29, 2007,[10] and the corporate entity IHOP changed its name to DineEquity on May 28, 2008.[11]
In early September 2010, IHOP filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles against International House of Prayer and six other defendants alleging trademark dilution and infringement.[12] The lawsuit was dropped on December 21, 2010, with the dispute resolved out of court.[13]