Boston Market
Boston Market Corporation, Boston CollegeBoston Market Corporation, known as Boston Chicken until 1995, headquartered in Golden, Colorado, is a chain of American fast casual restaurants. It is owned by private equity firm Sun Capital Partners, headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida.
It was founded in December 1984 in Newton, Massachusetts, by Steven Kolow and Arthur Cores. The chain expanded rapidly in the early and mid-1990s. The company raised a lot of debt to finance its expansion. The rapid expansion allowed the company to create a steady stream of revenue from one-time development fees and increasing royalties, but also raised interest rates on its development loans. In 1998 the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company was purchased by McDonald's Corporation in May 2000. McDonald's purchased the company for its real estate, but found the brand serviceable and therefore continued to operate and expand the chain. In 2007 McDonald's announced that it was "exploring strategic options" for the subsidiary. On August 6, 2007, McDonald's announced plans to sell the chain to Sun Capital Partners, a transaction that was completed on August 27, 2007.
Boston Market has its greatest presence in the Northeastern United States. As of August 2007[update] the chain has 530 company-owned restaurant locations in 28 states, with 14,000 employees. In the early 2000s Boston Market operated two locations in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In early 2002 Boston Market entered the Australian market, opening nine stores in the Sydney metropolitan area by 2004, before converting some stores to McDonald's and quietly exiting the Australian market later that year due to competitive pressures.
When it was known as Boston Chicken, stores specialized in rotisserie chicken and a variety of side dishes, but in February 1995, the chain expanded its menu to include turkey, meatloaf, ham, and sandwiches, and changed the name to Boston Market in Fall 1995 to reflect this, though the corporate name remained "Boston Chicken, Inc." until 1997, when it became so popular with the new name, the corporate name was changed to "Boston Market Corporation". The chain later added Beef Brisket. In 2005 Boston Market also started offering limited-time offers, such as Crispy Country Chicken, an oven-baked chicken breast with country gravy. Baked white fish, haddock or cod, was also offered on Fridays during Lent. Boston Market continues to introduce new items and flavors such as their popular BBQ Ribs, Oven Crisp Chicken and Tuscan Parm Chicken Premium Dish.
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