1 type subsidiary industry hospitality restaurants founded 1925 1925 in quincy ma restaurants 1954 1954 in savannah ga motor lodges founder howard deering johnson 1 headquarters parsippany new jersey u.s. number of locations 393 2 q4 2015 q4 2015 areas served worldwide hotels new york and maine restaurants 3 key people geoff ballotti president & ceo wyndham worldwide services lodging services and vacation rentals parent wyndham worldwide website www.wyndhamhotels.com hojo howard johnson s or howard johnson is a chain of hotels motels and restaurants located primarily throughout the united states and canada . founded by howard johnson it was the largest restaurant chain in the u.s. throughout the 1960s and 1970s with more than 1 000 combined company owned and franchised outlets . howard johnson hotels and motels are now part of wyndham worldwide . howard johnson s restaurants were franchised separately from the hotel brand beginning in 1986 . the food and beverage rights to the restaurant are currently owned by wyndham worldwide . only two hojo restaurants remain as of march 31 2015 one in lake george new york and one in bangor maine which the company closed in september 2016 . 4 the line of branded supermarket frozen foods including ice cream is no longer manufactured . contents 1 history 1.1 early years 1.2 expansion in the 1930s and 1940s 1.3 entering the hotel business 1.4 new chains and a changing public 1.5 changes in ownership 1.6 divestment of motor lodges 1.7 divestment of restaurant brand 1.8 2000s 1.9 2010s 2 in popular culture 3 references 4 further reading 5 external links history edit early years edit in 1925 howard deering johnson borrowed 2 000 to buy and operate a small corner pharmacy in wollaston a neighborhood in quincy massachusetts . johnson was surprised to find it easy to pay back the money lent to him after discovering his recently installed soda fountain had become the busiest part of his drugstore . eager to ensure that his drugstore would remain successful johnson decided to come up with a new ice cream recipe . some sources say the new recipe was based on his mother s homemade ice creams and desserts 5 6 while others say that the new recipe was from a local german immigrant 7 who either sold or gave johnson the new ice cream recipe . regardless the new recipe made the ice cream more flavorful due to an increased content of butterfat . eventually johnson came up with 28 flavors of ice cream . johnson is quoted as saying i thought i had every flavor in the world . that 28 flavors of ice cream became my trademark . 8 throughout the summers of the late 1920s johnson opened up concession stands on beachfront property along the coast of massachusetts . the stands sold soft drinks hot dogs and ice cream . each stand proved to be successful . with his success becoming more noticeable every year johnson was able to convince local bankers to lend him enough money to operate a sit down restaurant . negotiations were made and toward the end of the decade the first howard johnson s restaurant opened in quincy . the first howard johnson s restaurant featured fried clams baked beans chicken pot pies frankfurters ice cream and soft drinks . in 1929 both the first howard johnson s restaurant and howard johnson s company received an incredible break due to an unusual set of circumstances the mayor of nearby boston malcolm nichols prohibited the planned production of eugene o neill s play strange interlude from performing in his city . rather than fight the mayor the theatre guild moved the production to quincy . the five hour long play was presented in two parts with a dinner break . the first howard johnson s restaurant happened to be near the theater ; hundreds of influential bostonians flocked to the restaurant . through word of mouth more americans became familiar with the howard johnson s company . 9 expansion in the 1930s and 1940s edit corporate logo of the howard johnson s company circa world war ii showing a depiction of an orange roofed restaurant characteristic typeface and simple simon and the pieman logo . howard johnson s second logo used throughout the howard johnson company s existence . howard johnson entered the airline catering market segment . howard johnsons restaurant entrance with trademark weathervane . johnson wanted to expand his company but the stock market crash of 1929 prevented him from doing so . after waiting a few years and maintaining his business johnson was able to persuade an acquaintance in 1932 to open a second howard johnson s restaurant in orleans massachusetts . the second restaurant was franchised and not company owned . this was one of america s first franchising agreements . by the end of 1936 there were 39 more franchised restaurants creating a total of 41 howard johnson s restaurants . by 1939 there were 107 howard johnson s restaurants along various american east coast highways generating revenues of 10.5 million . in less than 14 years johnson directed a franchise network of over 10 000 employees with 170 restaurants many serving 1.5 million people a year . the unique icons of orange roofs cupolas and weather vanes on howard johnson properties helped patrons identify the chain s restaurants and motels . the restaurant s trademark simple simon and the pieman logo was created by artist john alcott in the 1930s . 6 when the pennsylvania turnpike ohio turnpike and new jersey turnpike were built johnson bid for and won exclusive rights to serve drivers at service station turnoffs through the turnpike systems . there were 200 howard johnson s restaurants when america entered the second world war . by 1944 only 12 howard johnson s restaurants remained in business . the effects of war rationing had crippled the company . johnson managed to maintain his business by serving commissary food to war workers and united states army recruits . in the process of recovering from these losses in 1947 the howard johnson s company began construction of 200 new restaurants throughout the american southeast and midwest . by 1951 the sales of the howard johnson s company totaled 115 million . entering the hotel business edit hojo motor lodges used a lamplighter character lighting a lamppost with the simple simon character pointing to the light . by 1954 there were 400 howard johnson s restaurants in 32 states about 10 % of which were extremely profitable company owned turnpike restaurants ; the rest were franchises . this was one of the first nationwide restaurant chains . while many places sold fried clams they were whole which was not universally accepted by the american dining public . howard johnson popularized soffron brothers clam company s fried clam strips the foot of hard shelled sea clams . they became popular to eat in this fashion throughout the country . 10 11 in 1954 the company opened the first howard johnson s motor lodge in savannah georgia . the company employed architects rufus nims and karl koch to oversee the design of the rooms and gate lodge . nims had previously worked with the company designing restaurants . the restaurant s trademark simple simon and the pieman was now joined by a lamplighter character in the firm s marketing of its motels . according to cultural historians the chain became synonymous with travel among american motorists and vacationers in part because of johnson s ubiquitous outdoor advertising displays . 12 in 1959 howard deering johnson who had founded and managed the company since 1925 turned the reins over to his son then 26 year old howard brennan johnson . the elder johnson would observe his son s control of the company until his death in 1972 at the age of 76 . howard johnson s company went public in 1961 ; there were 605 restaurants 265 company owned and 340 franchised as well as 88 franchised howard johnson s motor lodges in 32 states and the bahamas . in 1961 johnson hired famed new york chefs pierre franey and jacques p pin to oversee food development at the company s main commissary in brockton massachusetts . franey and p pin developed recipes for the company s signature dishes that could be flash frozen and delivered across the country guaranteeing a consistent product . new chains and a changing public edit this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . august 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message in the early 1960s h.b. johnson tried a new concept for his father s company with the creation of a steakhouse restaurant chain called red coach grills . only a handful would open and while they maintained some success they were not profitable enough and eventually all the red coach grills closed . in 1969 johnson once again tried a new restaurant concept ground round . it proved to be successful . though it was not a howard johnson s restaurant the ground round chain of restaurants were company owned and franchised thus increasing the howard johnson s company profit . by 1975 the howard johnson s company had more than 1 000 restaurants and more than 500 motor lodges in 42 states and canada . the company reached its peak that year but the late 1970s would mark the beginning of the end for the howard johnson s company . because of the oil embargo of 1974 the howard johnson s restaurants and motor lodges which maintained 85 % of revenues from travelers lost profit when americans couldn t afford to drive long trips or take frequent vacations . also the company model of serving pre made food with high quality ingredients in traditional dining rooms was costly when compared to the innovations introduced by fast food outlets like mcdonald s which designed its products and restaurants to appeal to families with younger children . the company also suffered from two infamous incidents at a property in downtown new orleans within 18 months of one another . the first was a july 1971 fire set by two irate guests who had been kicked out of the hotel which killed six people . 13 the second in january 1973 was a harrowing day long siege . former black panther mark essex used the hotel s roof as a sniper s perch killing three police officers the hotel s general manager and assistant general manager and a couple from virginia who were on a belated honeymoon . he also wounded policemen firemen and civilians . then in new york on november 8 1974 singer actress connie francis was raped at the jericho turnpike howard johnson s lodge . she sued the motel chain for their lapse in security and won a judgment of 2.5 million one of the largest such judgments in history at that time leading to a reform in hotel security . her rapist was never found . johnson attempted to streamline company operations and cut costs such as serving cheaper food and having fewer employees . this strategy was unsuccessful because patrons compared this new era of howard johnson s restaurants and motor lodges unfavorably to the services they had previously come to know . in a further effort to make the company more successful and profitable johnson created other concepts such as hojos campgrounds and 3 penny inns for lodging as well as deli baker ice cream maker chatt s and bumbershoot s for restaurants . all of these concepts failed furthering the company s demise . in the late 1990s the howard johnson s candy factory and executive offices in wollaston were purchased and renovated by the eastern nazarene college to form the adams executive center . 14 changes in ownership edit