Kenny Rogers Roasters

The first Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurant in Coral Springs, Florida.

In 1991, country singer/songwriter Kenny Rogers ventured into the fast-food business and co-founded Kenny Rogers Roasters with former Kentucky governor John Y. Brown Jr. Kenny Rogers Roasters opened its first restaurant in Coral Springs, Florida in August 1991.[4]

By 1995, the menu had expanded to include turkey, ribs, and various side dishes. The chain eventually grew to over 350 restaurants, including locations in Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.[5] The establishment became so well known an entire episode of Seinfeld ("The Chicken Roaster") was dedicated to Kramer's love of Kenny Rogers Roasters chicken which started after he and Jerry Seinfeld switched apartments due to a bright red neon light shining through Kramer's window so he could not sleep.

Kenny Rogers Roasters found itself in competition with Boston Chicken (later Boston Market) and several smaller roasted chicken chains.[6] Kentucky Fried Chicken also introduced a roasted chicken line of products called Rotisserie Gold to compete with Roasters and Boston Chicken.[6] In December 1992, Clucker's, a smaller player in the roasted chicken market, sued Kenny Rogers Roasters, claiming the chain had copied its recipes and menus.[7] The lawsuit continued until Kenny Rogers Roasters purchased a majority stake in Cluckers in August 1994.[7] Brown expanded the company to a chain of more than 425 restaurants before selling his interest in the franchise to the Malaysia-based Berjaya Group in 1996.[8]

In 1996 the chain announced plans to open in the United Kingdom and purchased locations in various cities. At this point annual sales topped $300 million. However, the planned restaurants in Britain never materialized.[9]

A former Kenny Rogers Roasters in Saginaw, Michigan.

The company entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 1998[10] and was bought by Nathan's Famous, Inc. for U.S.$1.25 million[11][12] (US$2 million in more recent terms) on April 1, 1999; as a result of restructuring, many locations closed. By 2000, the chain was down to 90 franchised restaurants, 40 of those in the U.S.

Nathan's Famous divested itself of Kenny Rogers Roasters in 2008, selling it to their Asian franchisee, Roasters Asia Pacific (Cayman) Limited,[13] a company which is owned by Berjaya Group of Malaysia.[2] The last Kenny Rogers Roasters operating in North America was located in the Ontario Mills mall in Ontario, California which closed on December 31, 2011.[14]

The 2008 purchase agreement allowed for[15] Nathan's Famous and Miami Subs to continue selling Kenny Rogers Roasters items in their restaurants.[16] Nathan's continues to serve Kenny Rogers Roasters items in select locations, such as its flagship location on Coney Island.[17] Miami Subs (since sold off by Nathan's) no longer has a "Kenny Rogers" section on their menu.[18]

A branch of Kenny Rogers Roasters in SM City Clark, Angeles City, Philippines.

Despite the chain's end in the United States, Kenny Rogers Roasters continues to flourish in Asia under the ownership of Berjaya Group. An article published by Time.com in 2011[19] reported that Kenny Rogers Roasters had grown to almost 140 restaurants across Asia, with continued expansion in Malaysia,[20] the Philippines,[21] and more recently southern China.

In Malaysia, the Kenny Rogers Roasters chain of restaurants is developed and operated by Berjaya Roasters (M) Sdn Bhd. Under a corporate exercise by Berjaya Corporation Berhad in 2011, Berjaya Roasters (M) Sdn Bhd became a wholly owned subsidiary of Berjaya Food Berhad.[22]

In March 2011, Berjaya Food Berhad listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia. Effectively, Berjaya Food Berhad is responsible for the establishment, operation and expansion of Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurants in Malaysia. This includes the development of the Kenny Rogers Roasters brand, management of menu items and acting as central procurement agent for Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurants across Malaysia.

As a brand, Kenny Rogers Roasters advocates healthy eating as reflected in its brand tag line "less fat...less salt...less calories".[23]

Kenny Rogers Roasters, Berjaya Times Square, Kuala Lumpur

In its 2012 Annual Report, Berjaya Corporation Berhad reported that as of April 30, 2012, Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurants numbered 74 in Malaysia and eight in Indonesia.[24]

It was also mentioned that the countries in which Roasters Asia Pacific (Hong Kong). Limited have operations include the United States, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, China and the Philippines.

In addition, Roasters Asia Pacific had also been undergoing expansion in other international territories which include India and the Middle East. In 2013, Kenny Rogers Roasters opened its first outlet in Brunei on January 2013.[25] The second outlet for Brunei was opened at Tanjung Bunut in June 2015.

Kenny Rogers Roasters started operations in Bangladesh in December 2012 with a restaurant in Gulshan, Dhaka. They terminated their operation in Bangladesh in 2018.

In June 2014, Kenny Rogers opened in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in the Aeon Mall. This is the chain's first location in Cambodia.

The Kenny Rogers Roasters expansion to UAE happened in June 2015 at Al-Karama, Dubai.

The first KRR in Thailand opened in December 2016, in the Laguna area of Phuket, and there are plans to open others, in Phuket first and then in other parts of Thailand.[26]

• List of fast-food chicken restaurants

• Kenny Rogers Roasters International
• Kenny Rogers ROASTERS Malaysia
• Berjaya Corporation Berhad
• Kenny Rogers Roasters Philippines
• Kenny's Honey Spicy