Sandy's

Sandy's was a chain of American fast-food restaurants begun in 1956 by four entrepreneurs from Kewanee, Illinois: Gus "Brick" Lundberg, Robert C. Wenger, Paul White and W. K. Davidson. Sandy's was the ancestor of the midwestern franchises of the Hardee's restaurant chain.

History

Beginnings

In 1956, the four men set out to start one of the first McDonald's franchises outside the McDonald brothers' home state of California. Ray Kroc had just begun selling McDonald's franchises outside California, and the four friends partnered to buy the right to open McDonald's restaurants in central Illinois. In June 1956, they opened their first restaurant in Urbana, Illinois, only the third McDonald's restaurant to open outside California. The Urbana store proved popular with students, professionals, and young families at the University of Illinois. It did so well that the group decided to open additional stores in Decatur, and Peoria, Illinois.

However, Ray Kroc notified them that Peoria and Decatur were not included in the central Illinois territory, and furthermore, that changes to the terms of the franchise meant they would owe a higher percentage of their profits to McDonald's. Having invested heavily in the Peoria location, including erecting the building, Lundberg and his partners decided instead to open their own restaurant, and settled on the name Sandy's.

Early success

The menu of the first Sandy's restaurant included a 15¢ hamburger, a 20¢ milkshake, and a 10¢ bag of french fries, much like McDonald's. However, none of the four founders were interested in expanding their local chain. Lundberg, in particular, viewed the enterprise as a chance to build a "people-oriented organization whose members worked hard but also had some fun while earning a legitimate profit."[1]

Sandy's was different in a number of ways from other fast food chains of the time:[1]

Ray Kroc did not act indifferently. He filed an ongoing series of lawsuits which finally ended with an out-of-court settlement in 1965. Despite this distraction, Sandy's grew from seven stores in Illinois in 1959 to 121 in five states in 1966. In 1961, insurance man Jack Laughery was so impressed with Lundberg and his business approach that he left a successful practice to join Sandy's, becoming president in 1967.

Bill Schelly in his memoir Sense of Wonder reminisced about visits in the mid-1960s when in downtown Pittsburgh he made to "a handy hamburger joint named Sandy's (a McDonald's imitator) for greasy cheeseburgers, mounds of salty fries, and massive sodas".[2] In 2009 Schelly posted further comments on a Sandy's fan website: ""The Sandy's we went to was an inner-city variety, sandwiched (so to speak) between two other stores, it was small and if it had tables at all, these were circular with small diameters, like 18". The decor, as I recall, had a lot of orange & yellow, but my memory could be playing tricks on me. We'd buy 3 burgers and 2 orders of fries a piece, because the burgers weren't very big, and huge Cokes, and take all the food back to my Dad's office downtown. ... "[3]"

Operators of most restaurants owned their stores and did not lease from the corporation.

Operators were not required to buy supplies from the corporation, instead being permitted to "shop around" as long as the supplies met company standards.

Lundberg visited every store periodically and became personally acquainted with every employee.

former name	Sandy's Drive-In (1956–1979)
type	Private
fate	Company became a Hardee's franchisee
successor	Hardee's
foundation	June 1956 as Sandy's Drive-In in Peoria, Illinois
defunct	1979
location	Kewanee, Illinois, U.S
industry	Fast-food restaurants
key people	Gust "Brick" Lundberg, W.K.Davidson
founders	Gust "Brick" Lundberg Robert C. Wenger Paul White W. K. Davidson
locations	Over 120
area served	Midwestern United States
products	Hamburgers
parent	Hardee's (1972-1979)

History

Beginnings

Early success

Takeover by Hardee's

See also

External links

References