Rax Restaurants

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Rax Restaurants is a small midwestern U.S. fast food restaurant chain specializing in roast beef sandwiches, formerly based in Columbus, Ohio. Once a big player in the fast food segment, Rax has extensively scaled down their operations since their peak in the 1980s. Its closest rival in terms of menu offerings is Arby's.

Contents 1 History and Operations 2 Current Status 3 Trivia 4 References 5 External links

[edit] History and Operations

Rax was founded as the Restaurant Administration Corporation (RAC) by J. Patrick Ross in 1962 with a lone Burger Chef in Wheeling, West Virginia. The company grew by franchising other restaurants like Wendy's, Ponderosa Steak House, Long John Silver's, and Jax Roast Beef; the first location of which was located in Springfield, OH.

It wasn't until the 1970s when the modern Rax would come into being. In 1969 General Foods gave up on their Jax concept and gave the restaurants to RAC. It was at this time when RAC decided to focus on the roast beef business. The Jax restaurants were renamed Rax in 1978 to be more suitable for trademarking, and the first Rax branded restaurant opened in Columbus. RAC renamed themselves Rax Systems Inc., then again to Rax Restaurants Inc. in 1982.

At its peak, the Rax chain grew to over 500 locations in 38 states. However, in 1991, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and the company scaled back many of its stores to its core markets in the Midwest, particularly Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.^[1]

In 1994, Rax Restaurants Inc. merged with North Carolina-based Franchise Enterprises Inc, renaming the company Heartland Food Systems Inc., and becoming a Hardee's franchisee.^[2] However, by 1996, the difficulty of converting Rax restaurants to Hardee's placed too much pressure on Heartland, and they were forced to once again file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. As part of a turnaround plan, the company sold the Hardee's units it owned that were not originally Rax stores and changed the company's name back to Rax Restaurants Inc.

The company was planning a revival for the Rax concept, including a new, simpler menu, a new store prototype, and a new logo and color scheme.^[3] However, in 1996, Wendy's International made an offer to purchase 37 Rax restaurants, intending to convert most of them to Tim Hortons. This caused a change in strategy, and a buyer was sought for the remaining company-owned restaurants.^[4] Since then, the Rax brand has been owned by Cassady & Associates^[5], and more recently, Carpediem Management Co., both based around Columbus, OH.

Rax is probably best known for their "Endless Salad Bar", their solariums and for adding foods typically not associated with fast food, like roast beef and baked potato, to their menu in the 1980's. Many of these changes were also implemented in Wendy's restaurants around the same time.

[edit] Current Status

Carpediem Management Co. currently operates Rax Restaurants. Today, there are fewer than 30 Rax locations remaining, located in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Illinois, and West Virginia. Many locations have closed in the last couple of years, and the chain seems to be struggling in general. Certain Rax locations are co-branded with other restaurants such as Subway and Long John Silver's.

[edit] Trivia

• Author Meg Cabot's first job was as a salad bar attendant at a Rax Restaurant, lasting for three days.^[6]

• While some Rax locations have been converted to Arby's, the Rax in Ashland Town Center's food court is, ironically, a former Arby's.

• The Rax located in Weirton, WV was one of the restaurants originally sold to Wendy's International for conversion into Tim Hortons. The Tim Hortons eventually was closed, and a Rax re-opened in the same building.^[7]

• For some time, the Rax mascot, Uncle Alligator, was dominant in all kid's meals and toys, always involving some sport or activity (e.g. skateboarding).

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Columbus Restaurant History - Chains Page List of former Rax locations in Columbus, Ohio.