IHOP

For other uses, see IHOP (disambiguation).
IHOP
Subsidiary
Industry Restaurants
Founded 1958
Founders Jerry and Al Lapin, Jr.
Headquarters Glendale, California, U.S.
Number of locations
 1,550+
Key people
 Julia Stewart (Acting President)
Russell Findlay VP Marketing
Products Breakfast foods
Pancakes • Waffles • French Toast
Lunch • Dinner • Sandwiches
Revenue Increase US$349.6 million (2006)[1]
Increase US$72.8 million (2006)[1]
Increase US$44.5 million (2006)[1]
Number of employees
 32,300 (2007)[1]
Parent DineEquity
Slogan Everything You Love About Breakfast
Website www.ihop.com

IHOP (International House of Pancakes) (aɪhop) 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 company has 1,500 locations in the United States and Canada. In August 2012, it opened its first franchise in Dubai as part of a major expansion into the Middle East restaurant market.[3] A second IHOP restaurant in the Middle East opened in Kuwait in February 2013.[4]

History

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.[5]

The location is coincidentally across from the oldest remaining Bob's Big Boy restaurant. Albert Kallis was a professional artist who designed the film posters of American International Pictures in the 1950s. Director Bert I. Gordon recalled that Kallis designed their logo[6] and left poster artwork.

The restaurant chain originally adopted the franchise-business model, where individual entrepreneurs who were granted permission by the IHOP ownership group could start and run their own IHOP restaurant. For example, Benson Gidan, an in-law of Jerry and Al Lapin, owned and operated one of the busiest and most popular IHOP franchises in the 1970s, located on Fairfax Ave. in Los Angeles, California.

The original concept was a restaurant which featured various types of pancakes and similar foods such as crepes and blintzes from around the world, at affordable prices. The chain was notable for their syrups of several different flavors.

The menu later expanded (especially in the 1980s) 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, but was sold by the mid-1970s.[7]

In June 2011, DineEquity announced a 40 restaurant agreement with M.H. Alshaya.[8] The agreement is to expand IHOP into the Middle East and Egypt. As of December 29, 2013, 4 restaurants have been opened in the Middle East. Two in Dubai, One in Kuwait, and One in Saudi Arabia.[9][10][11]

On September 6, 2011, a gunman, identified as 32-year-old Eduardo Sencion,[12] opened fire in a branch of the IHOP restaurant in Carson City, Nevada, killing four people, including three members of the National Guard, and wounding seven others.

An IHOP with the older look & current logos in Orlando, Florida.
An IHOP in Poughkeepsie, New York

Buyout of Applebee's

On July 16, 2007, IHOP Corporation stated its desire to acquire the bar-and-grill chain Applebee's International, Inc. in an all-cash transaction, valued at approximately US$3.1 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.[13]

With a larger than 70% vote, the company approved the undertaking of this enterprise, which closed on November 29, 2007. The deal beat 26 other offers to purchase the flagging 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 remarketing scheme and revitalization of the Applebee's image was intended.[14] The buyout successfully closed on November 29, 2007,[15] and the corporate entity IHOP changed its name to DineEquity on May 28, 2008.[16]

Legal case

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.[17] The lawsuit was dropped on December 21, 2010, with the dispute resolved out of court.[18]

See also

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to IHOP.