Grandy's

Grandy's
Private subsidiary
Industry Restaurant
Founded 1972
Headquarters Nashville, Tennessee
Number of locations
 46
Area served
 United States
Products Country style food
Parent Captain D's
Website grandys.com

Grandy's Country Cookin' (shortened to Grandy's) is a homestyle cooking and comfort food restaurant chain based in Nashville, Tennessee.

History

Grandy's was founded in 1972 by Walter E. Johnson and Rex E. Sanders, who became friends while working together as teenagers at a Dallas, Texas cafeteria. After launching and selling a successful chain of restaurants, the two young men created Grandy's, hoping to combine the efficiency of fast food with the ambiance of a full-service restaurant.

Under the ownership of Saga Foods, Inc. a multi-concept restaurant firm who acquired Grandy's in 1983,[1] Grandy's experienced its greatest growth surge, primarily in the 1980s, having at its zenith almost 200 stores. A buyout of Saga by Marriott Corporation led to a sell off of the Grandy's chain, along with other concepts owned by Saga, to American Restaurant Group.[2] In the late 1990s, Grandy's, now over 20 years old, began to close older locations and remote markets that were underperforming. They retreated to the core markets of Texas and Oklahoma with a strong presence in southern Indiana and northern Kentucky.

In 2000, American Restaurant Group sold Grandy's and three other subsidiaries to Spectrum Restaurant Group.[3] Spectrum filed for bankruptcy in 2006 and put Grandy's up for sale.[4] Souper Salad acquired Grandy's in 2007.[5] Souper Salad filed for bankruptcy in 2011 and sold Grandy's to Captain D's.[6][7]

In July 2004, Steve Butts and Brian Bowen left Grandy's, leaving the restaurant chain without an executive to lead the chain. That started the loss of sales and number of units.

Monty Whitehurst took over, without experience running a restaurant chain. Within 12 months, the chain lost 18 stores and same store sales dropped 32%. Also under Whitehurst many of Grandy's locations were exposed on local television stations for failing health inspections. This caused sales to drop.

In 2013 several of the restaurants were shut down due to failed health inspections. In September 2016, USRP closed 8 stores by not renewing leases that Grandys Inc signed in 1996.

As of August 2018, Grandy's is franchised in three states, with 23 restaurants. Half of these locations are in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex.

Location states

See also

References

  1. ↑ Saga Plans to Buy Grandy's of Dallas
  2. ↑ Newport Beach Firm Acquires Restaurant Chains from Marriott
  3. ↑ American Restaurant Group to Sell 4 Units to Cut Debt
  4. ↑ Troubled Spectrum Files for Chapter 11
  5. ↑ Souper Salad buys Grandy's
  6. ↑ Souper Salad files for bankruptcy protection
  7. ↑ Souper Salad and Grandy’s Sold to Captain D’s, LNC Ventures Archived 2012-08-30 at the Wayback Machine.
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