Their reasoning? They wanted to give their 60, employees a break a paid vacation day, at that. That act of goodwill caused a big problem for the restaurant, though. In order to close for the day, more than of the restaurants had to have locks installed. Many of them either didn't have locks at all, or the key had been lost decades ago since the doors were always open.
It's no secret that a career in fast food isn't usually a stairway to success , no matter what the employee handbook might tell you. But one former Denny's waitress, Dawn Lafreeda , beat the statistics and managed to make her way from server to the largest Denny's franchise owner in the world. Lafreeda started working at the chain as a teen , and continued working there through college while also taking an accounting and management job at a software company. She purchased her first Denny's franchise at the age of 23, then revamped four other Denny's restaurants in Texas.
After turning those businesses around, she kept at it, eventually owning 82 Denny's restaurants in 7 states total. She owns more Denny's franchises than anyone else in the company. Lafreeda has been working as a Denny's franchise owner for more than 30 years now, and her company Den-Tex Inc.
Not too shabby for what began as a high school waitressing job! From Sonic to Subway, lots of the restaurants we now consider to be household names were actually called something else when they were first opened.
The same is true of Denny's. When the chain was first opened by founders Harold Butler and Richard Jezak in , it was a donut stand called Danny's Donuts. Located in Lakewood, California, within three years there were eight restaurants. Jezak left the company, and Butler revamped the chain from a donut shop to a coffee shop with a more robust menu. Even then the stand was open 24 hours a day, but it wasn't Denny's yet — in the name was changed to Danny's Coffee Shops.
It wasn't until that the restaurant was renamed to Denny's Coffee Shops, so people wouldn't get it confused with the pre-existing Coffee Dan's in LA. Then, in the name was shortened to just Denny's, which is how we know the chain today. Denny's hasn't been immune to controversy over the years, and one of the most notable dings to its reputation were a spate of lawsuits filed against the chain in the early 90s for racial discrimination.
Black customers, including six secret service agents, joined together in two class-action lawsuits against Denny's. They accused restaurant employees of "ejecting black customers, segregating black from white customers, using racial epithets, failing to honor advertised specials for black customers and trying to limit the number of black customers in a restaurant at any one time.
The money was paid out to thousands of people across the country, and as part of the deal Denny's agreed to a revamp of how the company prevents and addresses racial discrimination issues.
It was an historic settlement, the largest amount of monetary damages ever issued for a violation of the Civil Rights act of Denny's also made sweeping reforms to its own company policies. Denny's international expansion began in with the opening of its first location in Acapulco, Mexico. Some of the countries that the Denny's brand has since spread to include Canada, Puerto Rico, New Zealand, as well as Indonesia and Aruba, two of the company's most recent international outposts. In , there were over 1, Denny's restaurants operating across 15 countries and U.
While the total number of branches has remained largely constant in recent years, the percentage of company-owned eateries has significantly decreased as part of Denny's franchise-focused business model. Regardless of this broad global footprint, the vast majority of establishments are located in the United States. Based on unit count, Denny's is one of the three largest family-style dining chains nationwide.
In , Denny's Corporation generated over million U. Although the overall operating revenue saw a year-on-year decline, Denny's franchise and license revenue figures stood at an all-time high that year, according to the company's annual financial reports.
In terms of sales, Denny's was the second highest-grossing family-style restaurant chain in the U. On a national scale, full-service restaurant FSR sales reached a record Since opening its first branch almost 70 years ago, Denny's has undergone multiple changes. In addition to the company's image remodeling efforts and extensive refranchising initiatives, Denny's has embraced a shift towards digital. By launching its online ordering platform Denny's On Demand, the brand boosted its off-premises sales, particularly among late-night diners.
In response to the coronavirus COVID pandemic, Denny's free delivery service was transitioned to a contactless delivery and pick-up model in early Jay Gilmore is Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Corporate Controller for Denny's Corporation and is responsible for the company's accounting, financial reporting and tax functions as well as procurement and risk management finance.
He joined Denny's in February As America's Diner, we love to feed people's bodies, minds and souls. We bring joy and comfort in many ways, with the common thread being our dedication to giving back to the communities in which we serve.
By fostering a culture of openness, equity and inclusion, Denny's is proud to make diversity a top priority. That includes investing in team members, partners and suppliers from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds, as well as providing educational resources and scholarships to underserved and diverse students and communities. The Principles. Since Our History Scroll.
And the rest is history. Denny's reaches a big milestone by opening its 1,th location. View Careers. Meet Our. View More. Vice President, Procurement and Distribution. Denny's served two million free Grand Slams in a single day. They didn't even have locks until The Fried Cheese Melt was condemned by a watchdog group. Some dude ate the Hobbit menu in one sitting. Denny's hopped on the bacon craze early. It's Heisenberg's favorite haunt. Their social media game is insane. The Japanese branch made instant jambalaya.
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