Fuddruckers (sometimes abbreviated Fudds[4]) is an American fast casual, franchisedrestaurant chain that specializes in hamburgers. The Fuddruckers concept is to offer large hamburgers in which the meat is ground on-site and buns are baked on the premises. As of 2019, Fuddruckers had 49 company-operated restaurants and 107 franchises across the United States and around the world. The company headquarters is in Houston, Texas. On September 8, 2020, Fuddruckers owner Luby's, Inc. announced that they planned to liquidate existing assets, including Fuddruckers' assets, distributing the proceeds to investors after the proposed sale of the chains.[5] On June 21, 2021, Black Titan Franchise Systems announced a deal to acquire Fuddruckers for $18.5 million.[6]
History
The headquarters of Luby's, former parent company of FuddruckersLogo used until 2018. Still seen on some locations
Founding and growth
Fuddruckers was founded as Freddie Fuddruckers in 1979 by Philip J. Romano in San Antonio, Texas, at a location converted from an old bank to a restaurant.[7] He started the chain because he thought that "the world needed a better hamburger".[8] The name derived from "Fudpucker World Airways", a fictional airline using steam-powered aircraft that was an in-joke among pilots and aviation enthusiasts.[9][10] The Fuddruckers concept was to offer large hamburgers in which the meat was ground on-site and buns were baked on the premises and hamburgers and other dishes were offered with "lots of fresh sliced tomatoes, onions, lettuce and vats of cheese sauce".[11] In California, Fuddruckers competed at the high end of the fast-food market against chains such as Flakey Jake's, sometimes with head-to-head competitions in places such as Northridge, California.[11] By 1988, there were 150 restaurants in the chain.[8] Romano left the chain in 1988 to form Romano's Macaroni Grill.[7] In an interview, Romano stated: "I just felt I had done all I could for the concept."[8]
Fuddruckers was purchased in November 1998 by Michael Cannon, and later it was purchased by Magic Brands.
In August 2014, Fuddruckers opened the first of its new stores called Fuddruckers Deluxe in Newport News, Virginia, a full-service sit-down restaurant serving traditional and new menu items, with a wait staff, full bar and multiple TVs, although it does not offer different size burgers or a "produce and fixings bar" like its traditional restaurants. As of 2018, the restaurant has been closed.
One of three Fuddruckers in Colorado that closed in 2010
Bankruptcy and ownership changes
The 2008 financial crisis hit the restaurant industry hard, including Fuddruckers. On April 22, 2010, the parent of Fuddruckers, Austin-based Magic Brands LLC, announced plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.[12] It originally planned to sell most of its assets, including Fuddruckers and the Koo Koo Roo brand eateries, to the Tavistock Group for $40 million.[13][14] On the same day, the firm announced that 24 Fuddruckers restaurants would be closed, several of them in the metro Washington, D.C. area.
On June 18, 2010, Tavistock was outbid by Luby's for Fuddruckers' assets at auction, with a $61 million winning bid.[15][16] A second estimate was that the sale amount was for $63.45 million.[17] Luby's acquisition of Fuddruckers and Koo Koo Roo was finalized in 2010. During 2011, there were controversies with previous franchise owners regarding the use of the Fuddruckers brand name.[18]
Luby's closure and dissolution
On June 3, 2020, Luby's Board of Directors announced plans to sell all its operating divisions and assets, including real estate assets.[19] This decision was influenced in part by circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Net proceeds from transactions will benefit Luby's stockholders. The company did not have a definitive timeline for future transactions, but expected to eventually wind down remaining operations.
On September 8, 2020, Luby's further announced it has adopted a plan to liquidate all of its existing assets, as opposed to operating in the current form or merely selling off divisions.[20][21]
As of September 11, 2020, there were 80 Luby's and Fuddruckers still in operation.[22]
99% of Luby's stockholders voted for dissolution in November 2020.[23]
Luby's planned to close all locations by August 2021.[24]
Sale to affiliate of Nicholas Perkins
On June 17, 2021, Luby's announced that it had entered into an agreement to sell the Fuddruckers franchise business operations to Black Titan Franchise Systems LLC, an affiliate of Nicholas Perkins.[25] As a result, the remaining Fuddruckers locations have remained open past the previously planned closure date of August 2021.[26]
Menu
Cheeseburger, fries and condiments at a Fuddruckers
The chain offered the Original Fudds Burger in various sizes, of 1⁄3, 1⁄2, 2⁄3 and 1 pound (151, 277, 302, 454 grams).[27] The primary focus is on hamburgers but other options are offered including chicken, fish and exotic burgers (buffalo, elk, ostrich, and wild boar).[28]
In 2006, Foxwood executive sous chef Scott Ferguson and Mark Collins made a burger weighing 29.6 lb (13.4 kg) and costing US$250, for the Fuddruckers restaurant in the casino. The burger was 18.5 in (470 mm) wide and 8 in (200 mm) tall.[29] At the time, this was the world's largest commercially available burger.[29][30]
Business
Franchise model
While some Fuddruckers restaurants are company-owned, the majority are owned by individual franchisees.[13]
In 2010, there were 135 franchisee-owned Fuddruckers around the United States.[13] In 2011, Fuddruckers had 200 restaurants throughout North America, of which two-thirds were owned by small business owners and 59 were company-operated locations.[31] By the end of 2015, Fuddruckers had 188 locations, with 35 outside the US.[32]
Headquarters
The firm has moved its headquarters location several times. Currently, the headquarters is near the northwest district of Houston, Texas.[33] It has been there since the acquisition by Luby's in 2010. From 2005 to 2010, Fuddruckers was headquartered in southwest Austin, Texas;[34] before that, in North Andover, Massachusetts, before that at Cherry Hill Park in Beverly, Massachusetts, before that in One Corporate Place in Danvers, Massachusetts;[35] before that, in Lakeside Office Park in Wakefield, Massachusetts.[36][37] When it shifted headquarters from the Boston area to Austin in 2005, it spent $1 million and laid off 30 employees to operate more efficiently, according to chief financial officer Matt Pannek.[38] Within six weeks of the move, the company hired 30 new employees for the Austin headquarters. By September 2005 the company employed 80 people in 16,000 square feet (1,500 m2) of space in two temporary offices in the Monterey Oaks Corporate Park in southwest Austin. By December 2005 the company planned to move into about 16,000-17,000 square feet (1,500-1,600 m2) of space in an adjacent building and turn one of the original Austin facilities into a training center and test kitchen. Pannek said that the central location of the headquarters allows the company to more easily communicate with its franchisees across the United States.[38]
Locations
Fuddruckers expanded outside of the United States. There were locations in Canada in the mid-1980s, including Saskatoon and Regina, Saskatchewan. Their first Australian store opening in Brisbane's Eagle Street Pier shopping centre in November 1993, followed by another store in the Logan Hyperdome south of Brisbane in August 1994 (which closed in August 1995, having never made a profit), and a store opening at the Macquarie shopping centre at North Ryde in Sydney in September 1994, all operated under franchise by Butcher Baker Goodtimes Maker until late 1996 when the franchisee went bankrupt and Fuddruckers left the country.[39][40]
Fuddruckers opened their first Middle Eastern location opening in May 1994 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia by Arabian Food Supplies. Fuddruckers opened restaurants in Argentina in 1988; later, however, sales fell and Fuddruckers left the country.[41] In 2013, Fuddruckers opened its first restaurant in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, which later closed. They also opened restaurants in Santiago, Chile and Bogotá, Colombia, all of which have since been closed.
In 2014, Fuddruckers partnered with Italian-based franchisee Vinum et Alia to open 10 restaurants across Italy, Poland, and Switzerland.[42] Their first restaurant opened in Varese (Lombardy).[43] They later added locations in Legnano and Casnate con Bernate, Italy, as well as Warsaw, Poland. However, as of 2019, this franchisee was no longer active and all European locations had been shut down.
As of June 2019, Fuddruckers had 156 locations across the United States and a further 8 run by franchise partners with one each in Saskatoon and Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada; two in Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico; one in Caguas, Puerto Rico; and three in Panama City, Panama. An additional 33 locations are licensed in the Middle East, with restaurants in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain, and Kuwait.
Fuddruckers was cited in the 2006 American science-fiction comedy film directed by Mike Judge, Idiocracy to show the slow devolution of society as the chain's name changes from the family-friendly "Fuddruckers" to the adult-oriented "Buttfuckers".[44][45]
^ abcDaniel F. Cuff (November 9, 1988). "BUSINESS PEOPLE; Founder of Fuddruckers Goes On to Next Course". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-06-22. Why did Philip J. Romano open a restaurant called Freddie Fuddruckers in 1979? I thought the world needed a better hamburger, he said.
^ abDaniel akst (June 25, 1985). "Fuddruckers, Flakey Jake's Cry 'Copycat' : Burger Chains Duel in Northridge". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-06-22. Fuddruckers and Flakey Jake's are franchising as fast as they can all over the country, selling fresh ground, one-third pound and half-pound hamburgers in purposefully rough-hewn surroundings.
^ abcVanessa O'Connell (April 29, 2010). "Fuddruckers Chain Feeling Heat From Pro-Gun Advocates". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2011-06-22. The hamburger chain Fuddruckers is unleashing the raw anger of pro-gun advocates, after a move by its Austin, Texas, corporate parent to begin enforcing a no-weapons policy.
^Nathan Olivarez-Giles (June 18, 2010). "Luby's cafeteria to buy Fuddruckers and Koo Koo Roo for $61 million". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-06-22. ... Fudds Luby's, based in Houston, has agreed to buy the majority of the assets of Fuddruckers and Koo Koo Roo's parent company Magic Brands for about $61 million in cash ... The assets from Magic Brands, which filed for Chapter 11 protection in April, were sold to Luby's in an auction ...
^Bill Rochelle (Jan 13, 2011). "General Growth, Innkeepers, Fuddruckers: Bankruptcy". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2011-06-16. Houston-based Luby's bought the Fuddruckers business for $63.45 million in a sale approved by the bankruptcy court in June.
^Rachel Feintzeig (February 23, 2011). "Taking the Fuddruckers Out of a Burger Shop". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2011-06-22. ... He's updated business licenses, recalled and canceled advertising that bears the Fuddruckers name and handed out fliers to customers to get the word out about the change. ... but he's still advised managers to cross the Fuddruckers name off of any offending receipts with black marker.
^Price, Robert (September 8, 2020). "Loyal customers saddened as Luby's announces plans to dissolve company". WOAI-TV. Retrieved 2020-09-08. This Plan of Liquidation is the next logical step in the Company's previously announced plan to maximize value of the Company through the sale of its operations and assets," Gerald Bodzy and Randolph Read, co-chairmen of the special committee responsible for the decision, said in a statement. "Our stockholders have expressed their support for seeking alternatives to continuing to operate the Company's restaurants in their current form, and we believe the Plan of Liquidation will allow the Company to accomplish that task in the most efficient manner.
^ abBrian wallheimer (May 26, 2006). "Foxwoods fries up monster burger". Norwich Bulletin. Retrieved 2011-06-22. ... Foxwoods Executive Sous Chef Scott Ferguson made the world's largest commercially available hamburger Thursday — weighing 29.6 pounds and costing $250 — for the Fuddruckers restaurant in the casino. Guinness World Records verified the result. The burger is 18.5 inches wide and 8 inches tall.
^Nicole Weston (Jun 3, 2006). "Record-breaking burger". SlashFood. Archived from the original on 2011-02-11. Retrieved 2011-06-22. ... the Guinness Book of World's Records officiated at the weigh-in of a 29.5-pound burger at the Foxwoods Resort Casino's Fuddruckers restaurant. They granted the 18.5-in. wide by 8-in. tall burger the title of "world's largest commercially available burger." ...
^"Fuddruckers to Feature Its Signature Burgers This May". The New York Times. April 25, 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-04-05. Retrieved 2011-06-22. Fuddruckers (NYSE: LUB), the Texas-born home of the World's Greatest Hamburgers, will feature two of its most popular burgers — the Southwest and the Swiss Melt ...
^"Contact us." Fuddruckers. Retrieved on February 27, 2010. "Luby's Fuddruckers Restaurants, LLC 13111 NW Freeway, Suite 600 Houston, TX 77040"
^"Fuddruckers Inc. — Company Profile". Goliath. 2011-06-24. Archived from the original on 2006-11-29. Retrieved 2011-06-24. Private Company, Headquarters Location 5700 Mopac Expwy S, Austin, TX 78749-1461, United States
^"Fuddruckers' Contact Page." Fuddruckers. August 19, 2000. Retrieved on February 27, 2010. "Fuddruckers 66 Cherry Hill Drive Suite 200 Beverly, MA 01915"
