Big Boy Restaurants
Big Boy Restaurants
Big Boy Restaurants International, LLC
Big Boy Restaurants International, LLC is an American restaurant chain headquartered in Warren, Michigan, in Metro Detroit.Frisch's Big Boy Restaurants is a restaurant chain with its headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Big Boy name, design aesthetic, and menu were previously licensed to a number of regional franchisees.
Big Boy was started as Bob's Pantry in 1936 by Bob Wian in Glendale, California. The restaurant became known as "Bob's, Home of the Big Boy Hamburger" then as Bob's Big Boy. It became a local chain under that name and nationally under the Big Boy name, franchised by Robert C. Wian Enterprises. Marriott Corporation bought Big Boy in 1967. One of the larger franchise operators, Elias Brothers, purchased the chain from Marriott in 1987, moved the headquarters of the company to Warren, Michigan, and operated it until bankruptcy was declared in 2000. During the bankruptcy, the chain was sold to investor Robert Liggett, Jr., who took over as Chairman, renamed the company Big Boy Restaurants International and maintained the headquarters in Warren. The company is the operator or franchisor for 90 Big Boy restaurants in the United States. Big Boy Restaurants International also licenses 279 Big Boy restaurants operating in Japan.
Immediately after Liggett's purchase, Big Boy Restaurants International—then known as Liggett Restaurant Enterprises—negotiated an agreement with the other large franchise operator, Frisch's Restaurants. The Big Boy trademarks in Kentucky, Indiana, and most of Ohio and Tennessee transferred to Frisch's ownership; all other Frisch's territories transferred to Liggett. (The bankruptcy threatened Frisch's future use of the Big Boy trademark.) Thus Frisch's is no longer a franchisee, but Big Boy Restaurants International and Frisch's are now independent co-registrants of the Big Boy name and trademark. Frisch's operates or franchises 121 Big Boy restaurants in the United States.
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