In 1968, the Marriott Corp. launched its Roy Rogers hamburger, roast beef and fried chicken concept. Twenty-two years later, it was one of the nation’s largest quick-service players with 650 stores.
But almost immediately after its $365 million sale to the Hardee’s hamburger chain in 1990, the brand’s fortunes took a turn for the worse.
Hardee’s presence was strong in the Southeastern U.S., but it sought to expand into the Northeast by converting Roy Rogers units into Hardee’s. The strategy failed so spectacularly that by 1993 some 200 stores had been rebadged as Roy Rogers.
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