. denny s corporation the 2002 present logo type public traded as nasdaq denn industry restaurants genre family dining predecessor danny s donuts founded 1953 ; 63 years ago 1953 headquarters spartanburg south carolina united states number of locations 1 700 1 revenue us 538.53 million 2011 operating income us 50.97 million 2011 net income us 112.29 million 2011 total assets us 350.50 million 2011 total equity us 9.68 million 2011 website dennys.com denny s also known as denny s diner on some of the locations signage is a full service pancake house coffee shop fast casual family restaurant chain . it operates over 1 600 restaurants in the united states including puerto rico and guam canada dominican republic el salvador cura ao costa rica venezuela honduras japan transliterated as den zu mexico new zealand qatar and the united arab emirates . denny s is known for always being open serving breakfast lunch dinner and dessert around the clock . unlike many other restaurant chains denny s does not close on holidays and nights except where required by law . many of their restaurants are located in proximity to freeway exits bars and in service areas . denny s started franchising in 1963 and most denny s restaurants are now franchisee owned . 2 contents 1 history 1.1 the denny s diner prototype 1.2 domestic and international growth 2 health inspection records 3 animal welfare efforts 4 discrimination controversies 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit very first denny s location in lakewood california 1953 . denny s was founded by harold butler and richard jezak opened danny s donuts in lakewood california in 1953 . 2 in 1955 after jezak s departure from the then 6 store chain butler changed the concept a year later in 1956 shifting it from a donut shop to a coffee shop with store 8 . danny s donuts was renamed danny s coffee shops and changed its operation to 24 hours . 2 in 1959 to avoid confusion with los angeles restaurant chain coffee dan s butler changed the name from danny s coffee shops to denny s coffee shops . two years later in 1961 denny s coffee shops was simply renamed denny s. 2 the business continued to expand and by 1981 there were over 1 000 restaurants in all 50 u.s. states . the company absorbed many of the old sambo s restaurants and used their mid century design in some of their future restaurants . in 1977 denny s introduced the still popular grand slam breakfast . in 1994 denny s became the largest corporate sponsor of save the children a national charity . all but six denny s closed for the first time ever on christmas 1988 ; many of the restaurants were built without locks and some had reportedly lost their keys . 3 denny s main offices were located in la mirada california until 1989 . at that time the office was first moved to irvine california and subsequently moved to the spartanburg south carolina headquarters of the parent company trans world corporation tw corporation that acquired denny s in 1987 . in 1992 private equity firm kohlberg kravis roberts acquired a 47 % interest in tw corporation later known as the flagstar companies and encouraged the company to sell non core businesses . 4 eventually denny s operations dominated the parent company to such an extent that the flagstar companies changed its name again to denny s corporation . it now trades on the nasdaq under the symbol denn . denny s offers a free meal to anyone on his her birthday . the offer included a limited number of meal options from a special birthday menu . the promotional ritual began in the 1990 s ; though occasionally individual franchises have offered it before that time . since 2009 its restaurants offer a free birthday slam on the customer s birthday . in 1994 denny s began renovating its stores with a lighter color scheme ; select locations also began serving baskin robbins ice cream for a short time . houston texas was the test market for the chain wide renovation . 5 the denny s diner prototype edit denny s corporate headquarters in downtown spartanburg south carolina denny s diner in bangor maine inspired by 1950s culture a denny s in ontario california this newer denny s off interstate 35 north of laredo texas handles a considerable trucker clientele . a halloween pancake at a denny s in tokyo some denny s restaurants employ the diner concept using modular buildings that resemble classic 1950s diners . in may 1997 the first denny s classic diner was opened in fort myers florida . the diner concept was created by ron marcia marc and todd york the principals of denny s franchisee swfri inc. today when there are about 40 denny s diners in the united states . additionally there are several diners that resemble the modular buildings but are actually stick construction . citation needed domestic and international growth edit in july 2010 denny s presence in the united states saw a major expansion when pilot flying j started opening denny s locations inside their flying j branded truck stop locations . 6 123 pilot flying j conversions were completed making denny s the leading full service restaurant brand in travel centers . 7 as of the end of 2011 there were 1 685 total denny s restaurants . while the company owns and operates some restaurants the majority are operated through a franchising model . 1 593 of denny s 1 685 restaurants are located in the 50 u.s. states including the district of columbia 11 in puerto rico two in guam one in chile 60 in canada five in mexico three in costa rica two in honduras one in el salvador and eight in new zealand . there is also a denny s attached to the holiday beach hotel in otrabanda willemstad cura ao in the netherlands antilles . 8 along with the regular denny s menu the cura ao restaurant offers a selection of local kriyoyo dishes . this is also true of the two locations in guam which have a separate only on guam 9 menu featuring chamorro style dishes . there are also about 578 denny s restaurants in japan operated independently under a license by a subsidiary of seven & i holdings 10 since 1984 . 11 at least five restaurants are planned to be opened in poland starting in 2016 . citation needed in june 2012 denny s opened a location in the las am ricas international airport its first location in an airport and its first in the dominican republic . 12 13 in july 2012 denny s announced it had signed an agreement with a franchisee to open 50 restaurants in southern china over 15 years beginning in 2013 . this makes it denny s largest international development deal at that time . 14 15 on august 29 2014 denny s opened its first location in new york city with some patrons waiting as long as two hours before its official opening to eat there . located in lower manhattan the location is designed to be more upscale than the typical denny s serves alcohol and offers a location exclusive 300 grand cru slam which is the typical grand slam breakfast served with a bottle of dom p rignon . 16 17 health inspection records edit in october 2004 dateline nbc aired a segment titled dirty dining . this segment examined the 10 most popular family and casual dining chains in the united states applebee s bob evans chili s denny s ihop outback steakhouse red lobster ruby tuesday tgi friday s and waffle house . as part of the segment the producers examined the health inspection records for 100 restaurants over 15 months and totaled all of the critical violations or violations that can result in adverse effects to the customers health . denny s had the fewest violations of the 10 chains dateline evaluated and was the only one to average fewer than one violation per restaurant . denny s attributes this relative success to its adherence to the principles of hazard analysis and critical control points . 18 animal welfare efforts edit denny s works with the humane society of the united states to address animal welfare issues . in 2008 denny s began switching to cage free eggs and in 2012 the company announced that it will work with its suppliers to move away from the practice of keeping pigs in gestation crates . 19 discrimination controversies edit during the 1990s denny s was involved in a series of discrimination lawsuits involving several cases of servers denying or providing inferior service to racial minorities especially black customers . 20 in 1994 denny s settled a class action lawsuit filed by thousands of black customers who had been refused service forced to wait longer or pay more than white customers . the 54.4 million settlement was the largest and broadest under federal public accommodations laws established thirty years previously to end segregation in restaurants and public spaces . 21 a black denny s customer was told in 1995 that he and his friends had to pay up front at the counter upon ordering their meals . he questioned the waitress we asked the waitress about it and she said some black guys had been in earlier who made a scene and walked out without paying their bill . so the manager now wanted all blacks to pay up front . 22 another 1993 incident occurred when six black united states secret service agents visited a denny s restaurant in annapolis maryland . they were forced to wait an hour for service while their white companions were seated immediately upon entering . 23 24 in san jose california in 1994 several black teenagers were refused service unless they agreed to pay in advance . 25 26 in 1997 six asian american students from syracuse university visited a local denny s restaurant late at night . they waited for more than half an hour as white patrons were regularly served seated and offered more helpings . they complained to management and to their server but were forced to leave the establishment by two security guards called by denny s management . then according to the students a group of white men came out of denny s and attacked them 27 and shouted racial epithets . several of the students were beaten into unconsciousness . 28 29 after the 54.4 million settlement denny s created a racial sensitivity training program for all employees . denny s has also made efforts at improving its public relations image by featuring african americans in their commercials including one featuring sherman hemsley and isabel sanford both actors from the popular the jeffersons television series . 30 31 in 2001 denny s was chosen by fortune magazine as the best company for minorities . 32 in 2006 and 2007 denny s topped black enterprise s best 40 companies for diversity . 33 in 2014 a denny s location in deming new mexico became subjected to a discrimination claim by an lgbt group alleging that wait staff used homophobic slurs and refused to serve a group of gay lesbian and transgender customers who were attending a gay pride celebration . one year later denny s agreed to donate 13 000 to deming pride pay 3 250 to a female customer who was subjected to the abusive behavior by wait staff as well as retrain employees regarding discrimination policies . 34 see also edit list of pancake houses references edit denny s corporation to present at the oppenheimer 11th annual consumer conference . ir.dennys.com . retrieved 2012 01 06 . dead link a b c d home page denny s . dennys.com . retrieved 2015 08 26 . dead