There are many who are flummoxed by the name of the Steak 'n Shake chain. Although the "Shake" part of the name is rather straightforward and self-explanatory, there are probably a number of people who likely believe that they're going to find T-bones and ribeyes at the restaurant, rather than the burgers for which Steak 'n Shake is known. The restaurant was founded in by Gus Belt in Normal, Illinois. Belt set his sights on procuring the best quality of meat for the burgers he served his customers, so he used prime steaks to create his burger meat — hence the use of the term "steakburger," which was later shortened to "steak" in the restaurant title via Steak 'N Shake.
To prove that he was truly using the best quality for his customers, Belt would bring in a barrel of steaks in front of his customers and turn them into ground beef right in front of their eyes. His first move was to purchase a chain of restaurants in Central Illinois called "Goal Post" and convert them to Steak n Shakes. He then added curb service because every restaurant had a never ending line to occupy one of the coveted seats.
Demand became greater and greater and soon Gus expanded to Galesburg in He also sold his first franchise in the late 30's. Gus Belt passed away in and his wife, Edith took over the business. She continued to operate the business, and decided not to expand but rather to care for the Steak n Shake family.
Longchamps then sold its majority stock interest to the Franklin Corporation in September Robert Cronin, as chairman of Steak n Shake, led an aggressive program to satiate the intense demand for Steak n Shake and the company grew to units in In the 70's, drive-thru's replaced the curb service. Due to intense competition and great distance between restaurants, several restaurants were closed. At this time, the corporate headquarters were moved from Bloomington, Illinois to Indianapolis, Indiana.
In , Cronin sold his interest to E. Kelley and Associates. Because of his marketing acumen, E. Understanding that guests' needs had changed little since , Mr. Kelley and Associates. Ed Kelley realized that the original restaurant concept was what people wanted, so he quickly took the chain back to its roots.
The menu was updated, and food was made to order and delivered by servers with real china and flatware. Soon the chain began serving food around the clock, seven days a week.
In , Kelley passed away, but he had made his mark by successfully nurturing the restaurant chain until it was more than double its original size. The company has continued to really slide since then. Critics say the customer experience slipped, and so did the service. All that discounting comes at a cost. Biglari is a mysterious figure who famously does not do media interviews. His only public comments typically come in his annual shareholder letters.
We failed customers by not being fast and friendly. During the first quarter of , same-store sales fell 7. And franchisees can only own one restaurant, similar to the Chick-fil-A model geared toward hands-on franchise ownership. Tom Murray, chief financial officer for Steak 'n Shake franchise operations, said there have been "thousands" of inquiries since the franchise partner program was announced. But he declined to say how many franchise partners have been finalized.
And it's exciting because we're giving people with the ability to own their own business, but not necessarily the financial wherewithal, we're giving them the opportunity to live the American dream," Murray said.
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