Restaurant Chains that closed some markets and are much alive in others

[roadman65]

I as a kid grew up with Jack In the Box in New Jersey.  They were the first I have seen with the Drive Through window and the only place in North Jersey you could eat a Taco.  Then sometime in the late 1970s they closed them all down.

Then later on when I grew up and traveled to Southern California in 1988, I was suprised to see them again as they are quite popular in the LA and San Diego areas.  I was in awe to have their food once again!  I was actually upset with them for allowing other parts of the country to have their food and we cannot.

Then 9 years later I experienced them in Texas.  It seems that they are more popular in Texas than they were in California and saw them just days ago and ate at the one in Huntsville, TX.  I had to get one visit to them before I returned to Florida where we have NO Jack In the Box Restaurants either.  Rumor has it that Florida was once market to them as much as New Jersey, but closed at the same time.  I do not know if it is true, or not, but it would seem so as there are no Jack In the Box east of Charlotte and none from Maine to Florida as I have seen.  It makes me wonder.

The same for What-A-Burger as they are popular in Texas, parts of LA, MS, AL, and the FL Panhandle.  Yet earlier in 2000's they opened two stores in Orlando that were a success, yet a few years later they boarded both places up and left.  I think that was cruel of them to tease us that way.  Here have a What-A- Burger.  Now you cannot, but Tallahassee, and all parts of Texas can have them all they want. 

Are there any that are in your area of any type of store that you once had that now do not and see them elsewhere by the dozens. It could be any type of business either.  I realize that some places work in some markets and not at all in others, but many of us do like what was given to us and many could still wish we had them still.

[corco]

A&W has resurged lately, but for a long time it was nearly non-existent in the US but has consistently been one of the major Canadian fast food chains. Canada A&W and the US A&W have been different companies for many years though.

Maid-Rite backed out of Denver several years ago, but they're back now.


Boise had the Denver-based Good Times chain for a while, but that has been closed, which sucks.

There was a random Chick-fil-A in the Western Washington University student union in Bellingham until a couple years ago. Now the closest Chick-fil-A to Bellingham is in Boise.

CKE doesn't seem to know what it's doing in Wyoming- they opened several Carl's Jrs, giving Wyoming both Hardee's and Carl's Jr, but now it looks like all  but one of the Carl's Jrs have closed, leaving five Hardee's. It's weird- when I moved to Laramie they had just demolished the old Hardee's and built a new Carl's Jr. Now the Carl's Jr is closed and there is only one left in Cheyenne. This makes sense- actually, as Cheyenne is more Denver-markety, and Denver is Carl's. The other four are in Buffalo, Sheridan, and Casper, which align more with Billings, which is a Hardee's area.

Long John Silvers backed out of the Tucson market entirely when they were divested from Yum! - that's okay though because Long John Silvers is often pretty disgusting.


One thing that was weird when I moved to Tucson is we have a ton of Boston Markets and Bruegger's Bagels, which has completely backed out of the northwest where I started eating them.

[6a]

GD Ritzy's - man, they had great fries and I think there are only three left somewhere in Indiana.  Rax roast beef could probably go there as well, there are a few in smaller towns around here but nothing like they used to have.

Roadman, Jack In The Box is opening a location in (I believe) Cincinnati soon, so I think they are making the slow march north.  I really don't know much about them, though.

And for all the hype about Columbus being a great test market and generally fast-food friendly, we have never had a Hardee's nor a Carl's Jr., a fact my CA-born wife sorely laments.

[Takumi]

I wouldn't really say it's a "thriving" company, but Buffets Inc. (Old Country Buffet, Home Town Buffet, Ryan's Steakhouse) used to have a few locations in the Richmond area until about 10 years ago, now the nearest locations atr an hour or more away (and not really worth the trip, IMO). I also vaguely remember a Roy Rogers somewhere in Richmond, but this was probably around 1990.

Branching out to non-restaurant businesses, Safeway and Winn-Dixie both had local establishments during my childhood, but neither are in the area now (I believe Safeway has a presence in northern Virginia, but Winn-Dixie has shrunk tremendously in the past 10 years). Ames and Bradlees (both now defunct department stores) closed their local stores years before their national shutdowns, and of course Chevron and Texaco are no longer in the Mid-Atlantic.

[agentsteel53]

Safeway and Winn-Dixie both had local establishments during my childhood, but neither are in the area now (I believe Safeway has a presence in northern Virginia, but Winn-Dixie has shrunk tremendously in the past 10 years).

Safeway is an active brand in California, especially in the north.  Vons is the brand in the south which is owned by the same company.  (they take each other's membership cards)  I don't know who bought whom, offhand.

[corco]

I've seen Safeway as far east as Sidney, Nebraska.

Idaho and Utah are weird for Safeway. There's only one in either state in Coeur d'Alene. All the surrounding states are pretty much dominated by Safeway and King Soopers/City Market/Fry's/Fred Meyer/whatever other thing Kroger wants to call itself.

Idaho was historically dominated by Albertson's. I'm not sure what Utah's deal is- I know there are a lot of Smith's which is another Kroger, and then like Idaho a lot of the rural communities have Associated Food Stores.

[RoadWarrior56]

BTW, there are still two G.D. Ritzy's in Evansville, IN.  I can't speak for anywhere else, though.

BTW, one chain that was in the Atlanta area for a few years in the late 90's that I still miss to this day............Bertuccis.  They had the best Italian style pizzas and ceasar salads.  There was one a few miles from my house.  The chain is still strong in New England, but I certainally miss there here in the south..

[Mdcastle]

Hardees pretty much exited the Minneapolis-St Paul market, there's one left in St. Paul and one in Elk River.
Dunkin Donuts, after buying out the local Mr. Donut chain, totally left. Krispey Kreme came and went.
I still remember a Rax.

[tdindy88]

Roadman, Jack In The Box is opening a location in (I believe) Cincinnati soon, so I think they are making the slow march north.  I really don't know much about them, though.

There's five Jack in the Boxes in Indianapolis now, probably the closest ones to Ohio and I would presume Michigan and points north and east.

[cpzilliacus]

I've seen Safeway as far east as Sidney, Nebraska.

You can find Safeway stores a little further east, in particular in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia.

[cpzilliacus]

I as a kid grew up with Jack In the Box in New Jersey.  They were the first I have seen with the Drive Through window and the only place in North Jersey you could eat a Taco.  Then sometime in the late 1970s they closed them all down.

Then later on when I grew up and traveled to Southern California in 1988, I was suprised to see them again as they are quite popular in the LA and San Diego areas.  I was in awe to have their food once again!  I was actually upset with them for allowing other parts of the country to have their food and we cannot.

Same experience in Maryland. 

At the time, Jack-in-the-Box was one of the very few fast food joints that operated 24/7. 

The only other chain that ran 24/7 in Maryland was the Little Tavern chain (confined to Md., Va. and D.C.).

There was (for the time) a very rare McDonald's that operated 24/7 on U.S. 1 (Baltimore Avenue) in College Park.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

GD Ritzy's - man, they had great fries and I think there are only three left somewhere in Indiana.  Rax roast beef could probably go there as well, there are a few in smaller towns around here but nothing like they used to have.

Roadman, Jack In The Box is opening a location in (I believe) Cincinnati soon, so I think they are making the slow march north.  I really don't know much about them, though.

And for all the hype about Columbus being a great test market and generally fast-food friendly, we have never had a Hardee's nor a Carl's Jr., a fact my CA-born wife sorely laments.

Raxs (or at least some of the Rax stores) were rebranded as Hardees here in Central Ohio for a brief time during the late 80s/early 90s.

[hbelkins]

Are there any Rax locations still open? The two I remember most -- Aberdeen, Ohio and London, Ky. -- have been long closed. Think there's something else in the London location, but the Aberdeen store was vacant and falling in when I was last through there back in the spring.

I remember a roast beef place called Lotts back in the 70s. In Lexington they were a very big competitor to Arby's, which hadn't expanded a lot back then.

Noticed that someone mentioned Krispy Kreme. I know they expanded quite a bit at one time but have scaled back. They used to have a location in Bowling Green, Ky.; no more.

Popeye's has had a somewhat unspectacular incursion into Kentucky. The one in Winchester didn't last long.

[golden eagle]

Y'all can have Jack In the Box. I think the closest ones to me may be in Baton Rouge.

[CentralCAroadgeek]

Not really a restaurant chain, but Albertson's has pretty much "died" in Northern California (at least the Central Coast), but I've seen them still alive and well down in SoCal.

Though I've never eaten at one, the Arby's locations in Salinas have all but gone.

[vdeane]

Noticed that someone mentioned Krispy Kreme. I know they expanded quite a bit at one time but have scaled back. They used to have a location in Bowling Green, Ky.; no more.

They're pretty much gone in NY as well; I think they're down to just one store in NYC.  The seem to be doing better in other states though.

[Takumi]

Safeway is an active brand in California, especially in the north.  Vons is the brand in the south which is owned by the same company.  (they take each other's membership cards)  I don't know who bought whom, offhand.

Safeway bought Vons in 1997. Interestingly, Wikipedia (with a cited source) also says that the founder initially sold Vons in 1929 to a company that Safeway bought a few years later. Either he or his children restarted the company a few years after that. So Safeway has bought Vons twice. Also, I believe there are Safeways in parts of Canada.

[on_wisconsin]

Shoney's used to have huge footprint in Wisconsin back in the late 80's- 90's but all where closed by the early 2000's.

[jp the roadgeek]

Noticed that someone mentioned Krispy Kreme. I know they expanded quite a bit at one time but have scaled back. They used to have a location in Bowling Green, Ky.; no more.

They're pretty much gone in NY as well; I think they're down to just one store in NYC.  The seem to be doing better in other states though.

Last one left in all of New England is at Mohegan Sun.  Came and went in 2 years.  I remember news stories about lines for 2 miles waiting for Krispy Kremes, and poof, in a year they were gone.  They didn't last because it's Dunkin's home turf.

Other one that have come and gone in the Northeast: Long John Silver's and Arthur Treacher's were big in the late 70's/early 80's, disappeared, made a comeback in the late 90's, and now seem to exist sparsely, and only paired with Taco Bell in a couple of spots.  Also know of only 2 Roy Rogers left in New England when there used to be about 10 in CT alone.  And of course, Tim Horton's has pulled out of the Northeast, which I miss the Del's Lemonade being available there (ironically, one of the chains it replaced, Bess Eaton, has resurrected itself in South County, RI).

[Brian556]

There used to be a Shoney's in Denton, Tx. Not anymore.
Krystals moved in to the Dallas area in the previous decade. Most of them closed. I really like them. I'm thinkin that their lack of sucess could be due to the fact that their food is overpriced, and gives you gas and the s%&ts.

[The High Plains Traveler]

Safeway and Winn-Dixie both had local establishments during my childhood, but neither are in the area now (I believe Safeway has a presence in northern Virginia, but Winn-Dixie has shrunk tremendously in the past 10 years).

Safeway is an active brand in California, especially in the north.  Vons is the brand in the south which is owned by the same company.  (they take each other's membership cards)  I don't know who bought whom, offhand.

Safeway is the owner; it's the predominant brand, except they own other brands in the midwest. In northern California and much of the west - including where I live - it's big. (Except, it sold nearly all its stores in New Mexico since I lived there).

When I was a kid in southern California, Von's and Safeway were separate but Safeway bought the southern California Von's some time back. I was very surprised about 10 years ago going into a Von's in Bishop (the northern extent of their range, I would surmise) and seeing Safeway brands and having them accept my Safeway card. Ralph's, another big brand when I was young, was bought by Kroger. My first job was at a Lucky store, which I understood was bought by Albertson's (which has since undergone its own issues), and I was very surprised in my trips to California the past couple of years to see Lucky Stores with the same logo again.

[hbelkins]

Y'all can have Jack In the Box. I think the closest ones to me may be in Baton Rouge.

I've never tried Jack In The Box.

I tried Whataburger once (in Texarkana) and was not impressed.

[adt1982]

Are there any Rax locations still open?

Per www.raxroastbeef.com they have one in Illinois, one in Indiana (which is oddly only open from 10 AM to 5 PM M-F), 7 in Ohio (with one coming soon), two in Kentucky, and one in West Virginia.  I think the last time I ate at a Rax was in May 2001 in Richmond, IN.

[6a]

Are there any Rax locations still open?

Per www.raxroastbeef.com they have one in Illinois, one in Indiana (which is oddly only open from 10 AM to 5 PM M-F), 7 in Ohio (with one coming soon), two in Kentucky, and one in West Virginia.  I think the last time I ate at a Rax was in May 2001 in Richmond, IN.

Yeah, I know of one in River Valley Mall, Lancaster OH, and one recently opened in Circleville, OH - perhaps that's the new one being mentioned.

[6a]

Raxs (or at least some of the Rax stores) were rebranded as Hardees here in Central Ohio for a brief time during the late 80s/early 90s.

You are high on my list of knowledgeable folks in this area so I'm gonna defer to you because I seriously don't remember any back then. But then, I was on the hilltop so my cultural experiences were limited. I do remember going to Springfield to visit my great-grandfather at the Masonic Home and stopping at the Hardee's because it was cool.

BTW, there are still two G.D. Ritzy's in Evansville, IN.  I can't speak for anywhere else, though.

I'm seriously considering a road trip....