Applebee's

Whether it's for lunch, dinner, after work or late at night, we've got the neighborhood favorites you've grown to love. Key Dates: Applebee's International, Inc. is the leader in the casual dining segment of the United States restaurant marketplace. The company franchises and operates more than 1,100 restaurants under the Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar name, about a quarter of which it owns. The eateries offer moderately priced, high-quality food and drink for all ages in a friendly, informal atmosphere. Applebee's is continuing to expand, with 1,800 outlets the company's stated goal. A smaller restaurant format has been designed for areas with populations under 25,000, to facilitate penetration of previously untapped markets. W.R. Grace hoped to use its deep pockets to parlay the T.J. Applebee's concept into a large chain of franchised restaurants. Grace, through its wholly owned Creative Food N Fun Co. subsidiary, set up a separate Applebee's division in Kansas City to operate the newly incorporated Applebee's. Palmer remained as president of Applebee's. Between 1983 and 1985 Palmer added new Applebee's outlets in the Atlanta area. In addition, Applebee's began franchising the concept to other regional restaurant developers. Among Applebee's first regional franchisees was Burton 'Skip' Sack, who purchased the New England franchise rights to Applebee's restaurants in 1984. His experience was representative of other Applebee's franchisees during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Sack had started out as a bus boy at Howard Johnson's, where, over a 22-year-period, he progressed to senior vice-president of the company. He left 'HoJo' in 1983 and bought the Red Coach Grill chain of eateries. When his first Applebee's restaurant was an instant success, he sold off his Red Coach restaurants and concentrated on developing more Applebee's outlets. During the late 1980s Sack developed a small network of Applebee's outlets in various parts of New England. 'We waited a year and a half to see if it was just a fluke,' Sack said in the May 3, 1993 Union Leader, adding that 'In 1988, we opened our second restaurant in Franklin, Massachusetts, and it did even better.' By 1993 Sack was operating about 15 outlets that were generating earnings of nearly $18 million annually, and he was planning to open several more stores. Sack and other Applebee's franchisees generally prospered during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Perhaps the most successful franchisee, however, was Tom E. DuPree, Jr. DuPree opened his first Applebee's restaurant in 1986 and rapidly expanded his chain to become the leading franchisee in the system. 'We felt it [the Applebee's concept] hit all the demographic shifts dead center,' DuPree explained in the July 5, 1994 Atlanta Constitution. 'People are tired of plastic drinks and cardboard food,' he noted. Dubbed 'Apple South,' the Atlanta-based company that DuPree created through which to operate his restaurants generated huge sales gains throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. Indeed, between 1986 and 1991, DuPree opened 52 new outlets. Incredibly, he doubled that number during the next two years by expanding its chain to more than 100 stores. Furthermore, average per-store sales steadily increased. Applebee's major growth spurt began in 1988, after W.R. Grace sold the company. Grace had succeeded in bringing new franchisees into the system but had only achieved moderate growth and profitability. Even by 1986, total revenues from franchise fees and other sources were less than $5 million. In addition, despite the success of individual stores, Applebee's lost money each year between 1985 and 1988, with the exception of a small surplus in 1986. Recognizing that Applebee's had much greater potential were Abe J. Gustin, Jr., and John Hamra. Hamra was serving as chairman of Applebee's board at the time. In 1988 Gustin and Hamra decided to buy the company from W.R. Grace and try their hand at owning and managing the organ