Lum's

Lum's in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 1966

Lum's was a family restaurant chain based in Florida, with locations in several states.

LUMS was founded in 1956 in Miami Beach, Florida, by Stuart and Clifford S. Perlman[1] when they purchased Lum's hot dog stand for $10,000. Over the next few years, the Perlman brothers opened three additional Lum's restaurants, for a total of four by 1961.[2]

Clifford Perlman, in addition to owning Lum's, had been serving as the president of Southern Wood Industries, Inc., resigned that position to work full-time for Lum's. Under the brothers, Lum's began aggressively expanding and franchising; the signature item was hot dogs steamed in beer. In 1969, Lum's, Inc. was admitted to the New York Stock Exchange.

Lum's, Inc. purchased Caesars Palace for $60 million in 1969. At that time, Caesars was a 500-room hotel-casino on the famous Las Vegas strip. The food operations of Lum's, Inc. were sold in 1971 to John Y. Brown, then chairman of Kentucky Fried Chicken along with a group of investors.[3] At the time of sale, the company owned and franchised 400 stores in the continental U.S., Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Europe.

In 1978, Wienerwald Holdings, A.G., a Swiss holding company and parent of the Wienerwald restaurant chain, under the direction of Friedrich Jahn, purchased the 273 restaurant chain from Brown.[4] However, Wienerwald had overextended itself and was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1982.

The original Lum's location closed in 1983.[5] For a time, there was only one Lum's operating, in Bellevue, Nebraska, south of Omaha.[6] In 2010 a Lum's opened in Seekonk, Massachusetts[7], but later closed leaving the Nebraska restaurant as the sole location. The Bellevue location subsequently closed on May 28, 2017.[8]

For a time in the 1970s, the company's commercial spokesman was Milton Berle.

References

  1. ↑ "S. PERLMAN, CO-FOUNDED LUMS CHAIN". San Jose Mercury News. January 6, 1988. Retrieved October 11, 2007.
  2. ↑ "Lum's Chief: From Law to Hot Dogs". The New York Times. February 1, 1970. p. F12.
  3. ↑ Bamash, Isadore (July 24, 1971). "Resignation Denied By K.F.C. Chairman". The New York Times. pp. 31, 34.
  4. ↑ Tagliabue, John (July 18, 1981). "Wienerwald's U.S. Challenge". The New York Times. p. 29.
  5. ↑ "Lums first store to shut down". Miami Herald. May 22, 1983. Retrieved October 11, 2007.
  6. ↑ "Lums Restaurant – Bellevue, NE". Yelp.com. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
  7. ↑ Providence Journal: "Things to Do - Lum's"
  8. ↑ http://www.omaha.com/go/dining/last-lums-restaurant-closes-after-years-in-bellevue-chain-had/article_44bffe00-4641-11e7-bfae-fb0d634d483c.html

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