🠈  Long John Silver's  🠊

Long John Silver's Restaurant

Long John Silver's is a chain of fast food restaurants serving seafood based in Lexington, Ky. The chain was named for a pirate character in Robert Louis Stevens work "Treasure Island" published in 1883.

The chain traces its history to 1969 when Jerrico Inc., which owned a restaurant chain called Jerry's Restaurant, opened a seafood restaurant in a building called "Cape Codder" in Lexington, Kentucky.

The Long John Silver's concept was a success and soon became more popular than the Jerry's Restaurant Brand.

In 1988, Jerrico Inc. created a chain of Italian restaurants with the brand Fazoli's.

In 1990, Jerrico sold Jerry's and Fazoli's to concentrate on Long John Silvers.

Jerrico Inc. declared bankruptcy in 1998. The brand moved through a series of acquisitions. It was owned briefly by Yum! Brands which developed several multi-brand restaurants which combine Long John Silver's and A&W.

In September 2011, Yum! sold Long John Silvers to a new investment firm called LJS Partners. (Source wikipedia pulled Dec 2011). The headquarters of LJS Partners is in Louisville, Ky.

History of Jerrico Foods and Long John Silvers

This section shows highlights of the history of Jerrico Foods. Jerrico developed numerous restaurant concepts. Long John Silver's was the most successful; so they spun off the other restaurants.

• 1929: Jerome Lederer opened the White Tavern Shoppe hamburger stand in Shelbyville, Ky. The restaurants had but five stools. This chain grew to 13 locations.
WWII: They closed 10 locations during the war.
• 1946: Lederer formed the company Jerrico Inc. and opened a restaurant called Jerry's Five and Dime which sold roast beef sandwiches for 15¢s; in Lexington, Ky.
• 1947: Realizing that people weren't will to pay 15¢s; for a sandwich, the company switched to hamburgers.
• 196?: Jerrico experiment with different restaurant concepts including:
  • Lott's sold roast beef and other sandwiches.
  • Davy's Dock was a full service seafood restaurant.
  • Don Q's sold Spanish food.
  • The Governor's Table offered full service dining.
• 1963: Warren W. Rosenthal took ownership of the firm on Lederer's passing.
• 1969: Jerrico's went public in 1969.
• 1969: Rosenthal and James Patterson, a franchisee, created a fish and chip store with a pirate theme called Long John Silver's Fish & Chips.
• 1973: LJS took took them Long John Silver's Seafood Shoppes in an effort to expand the menu.
• 1976: LJS had 621. 262 corporate and 359 franchises.
• 1978: LJS had 1000 stores with 464 corporate and 536 franchises.
• 198?: Jerrico created Italian restaurants with the names Florenz and Gratzi's
• 1988: Jerrico created a chain of fast casual restaurants called Fazoli's
• 1989: Castle Harlan and DJS-Inverness funded a $620 million leveraged buy out of Jerrico and the walls came tumbling down. Castle Harlan created a holding company caled Pisces Inc..
• 1990: An Atlanta based concern called Great American Restaurants acquired 46 Jerry's Restaurants. They turned most of these into Denny's. A small number of franchises split off and retained the name Jerry's
• 1990: Kuni Toyoda, who was the franchise VP of Jerrico, and Duskin Inc. acquired Fazoli's
• 1993: LJS began selling fish in kiosks.
• 199?: Triarc Cos, which owned Arby's Inc announced plans to buy LJS and comarket it with Arby's. They offered $75 million and assumption of $450 million debt. Interest rates grew and the deal fell through.
• 1998: Long John Silver's declared bankruptcy. It still had debt from the leveraged buy-out. Grocery stores were selling frozen breaded fish and fish prices fluctuated.
• 2002: Tricon Restaurant Group. acquired Long John Silver's. They then changed their name to Yum! Brands.
• 2010: A franchise group called Treasure Isle Inc. sued Yum! Brands claiming the franchise gave adequate support.
• 2014: LJS reluctantly transitioned to a trans-fat free oil. The medical community claimed they were the least healthy restaurant and called the fare "Heart attack on a hook." (ref)
• 2018: LJS acquired 76 LJS franchises run by ServUS in Indiana.

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References:

1. Mashed - The untold story of LJS (Drawn 10/6/2019)
2. Reference for Business - Long John Silvers (Drawn 10/6/2019)

Directory Listings:

• Coconino County - Dining: Long John Silver's
• Mohave County - Dining: Long John Silver's
• Navajo County - Dining: Long John Silver's
• Phoenix Color - Fast Foods: Long John Silver's
• Pinal County - Dining: Long John Silver's
• Yavapai County - Dining: Long John Silver's
• Yuma County - Dining: Long John Silver's
• Denver Color - Fast Food: Long John Silver's

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