llc roy rogers rides again 1 type wholly owned subsidiary industry fast food founded 1968 headquarters frederick maryland us number of locations 51 key people roy rogers chain s namesake jim plamondon and peter plamondon jr. co presidents roy rogers franchise company llc products fast food including hamburgers roast beef sandwiches fried chicken and french fries parent plamondon companies website royrogersrestaurants.com roy rogers franchise company llc is a mid atlantic and northeastern united states chain of fast food restaurants founded by the marriott corporation in 1968 in falls church virginia . as of august 2015 roy rogers had 51 stores 20 corporate and 31 franchised . in 2002 the plamondon companies purchased the trademark from imasco the former parent of hardee s. under the new owners the company is headquartered in frederick maryland . 2 roy rogers menu consists primarily of hamburgers roast beef sandwiches fried chicken french fries and beverages . contents 1 history 1.1 new ownership relaunch 1.2 key dates 2 products and services 3 1984 murder 4 locations 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit roy rogers picture hangs in every restaurant . roy rogers logo after conversion back from hardee s. roy rogers is a chain of u.s. fast food family restaurants numbering over 650 at its peak named after cowboy movie actor roy rogers . marriott corporation founded the chain to replace their older hot shoppes jr. fast food chain most of which were then converted . they licensed the name from roy rogers and operated the restaurants from 1968 through 1990 . the first location opened in 1968 in the bailey s crossroads section of falls church virginia on the corner of leesburg pike and carlin springs road 5603 leesburg pike not far from the hot shoppes on columbia pike . that roy rogers is now a mcdonald s. another jr. hot shoppes that became a roy rogers was at 5214 river road in bethesda maryland directly across the street from the original headquarters of marriott corporation . marriott senior executives and members of the marriott family were frequent patrons of the location the site is also now a mcdonald s . in 1982 marriott corporation bought the gino s restaurant chain for 48.6 million . the company converted 180 of the 313 restaurants to roy rogers to expand in the baltimore washington area . in 1990 marriott sold the chain for 365 million to hardee s a southern chain seeking to expand into the mid atlantic market again . hardee s converted the remaining non franchised locations into hardee s restaurants ; many of the new hardee s continued to feature roy rogers fried chicken . the conversion of the roy rogers chain ended in a customer revolt so serious that they actually aborted the idea and returned the roy rogers brand to stores initially converted . 3 the restaurants promoted new flame broiled hamburgers but they were not the same as the original roy rogers products and they later failed . hardee s finally sold the remaining roy rogers locations to mcdonald s wendy s and boston market between 1994 and 1996 . this left 13 roy rogers franchisees with two dozen free standing locations in addition to locations owned by hmshost in travel plazas along highways in the northeast . filming for the first television commercials advertising roy rogers restaurants took place in the apple valley california area where rogers lived with his family . in 1968 and 1969 rogers and friends earl bascom 4 and mel marion were filmed at various locations including the historic las flores ranch in summit valley and the campbell ranch in victorville . new ownership relaunch edit roy rogers restaurant in westminster maryland in a former gino s building owned by the plamondon companies remodeled in 2007 . roy rogers restaurant in germantown maryland owned by the plamondon companies opened in 2009 . plamondon companies took the lead among franchisees in developing products hosting training sessions and shooting new food photography for their stores . plamondon companies is run by jim plamondon and peter plamondon jr. the two sons of peter plamondon sr. head of the restaurant division at marriott when the roy rogers brand was created . roy rogers was relaunched as roy rogers franchise company llc in 2002 when plamondon companies bought the trademark and franchise system from imasco the former owner of hardee s. 5 in 1997 cke restaurants acquired hardee s from imasco but imasco held on to the roy rogers trademark and franchise system . plamondon negotiated with imasco for three years before a private purchase agreement was reached in 2002 . 6 the first new roy rogers restaurant after many years of decline was opened in frederick maryland by plamondon in 2000 . 7 based in frederick maryland the plamondon companies is a privately held company with annual revenues of 20 million . 8 in 1980 the plamondon companies opened its doors with their first roy rogers restaurant . as of 2012 there are 20 company owned roy rogers restaurants while franchisees operate the rest . 9 the company is seeking franchisees to continue roy rogers expansion throughout the northeast region . 10 key dates edit this article contains embedded lists that may be better presented using prose . you can help by converting the list or lists to prose if appropriate . editing help is available . august 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message 1968 the first roy rogers opens at 5603 leesburg pike falls church virginia . 1970s roy rogers chain flourishes under marriott . several hundred franchised and company units open . 1970s first long island stores open in greenvale nassau county new york and commack suffolk county new york . 1973 stores in uniondale island trees and farmingdale all nassau county new york open . 1975 long island store opens in shirley new york in suffolk county . 1976 roy rogers in fairfax virginia on little river turnpike at the border of alexandria virginia is robbed in a high profile case where five employees were herded into the restaurant s freezer and shot in the head . four people were killed and one survived . 11 1980s franchisee plamondon enterprises inc. opens seven and acquires three roy rogers locations . 1982 marriott purchases the gino s restaurant chain for 48.6 million and converts many of the restaurants to roy rogers . 12 1982 marriott threatens to take the riese family a franchisee to court when they discovered the rieses were reserving space for h agen dazs and godfather s pizza in a property slotted for a times square roy rogers restaurant . 13 14 1989 marriott decides to get out of the fast food business and sell its roy rogers howard johnson s bob s big boy and other chains to concentrate on its fast food operations catering to captive buyers at airports and along turnpikes . 15 1990 a total of 648 roy rogers locations are in operation primarily in the northeast and mid atlantic states . 1990 marriott sells roy rogers to hardee s subsidiary of imasco for 365 million in its plan to exit the fast food business . 16 1990 hardee s converts 220 roy rogers locations to hardee s. 1992 due to customer loyalty hardee s reconverts 220 former roy rogers locations back to roy rogers . 17 1992 jordan mcgrath case & taylor inc. a new york advertising agency is hired to promote the roy rogers brand . 18 1992 ronald r. powell who ran roy rogers from 1985 to 1987 under marriott becomes president of roy rogers and is believed to have influenced hardee s decision in dropping its conversion strategy and restoring the chain to its original identity . 19 1993 with much fanfare and a celebrating featuring cowboys and pony rides for children an experimental super roy rogers opens at the vienna virginia location . the store features usual roy rogers food items but with added flair such as third pound burgers bbq sauce served with a ladle and an improved dining room with television screens . 1994 hardee s sells 84 company owned roy rogers restaurants in the philadelphia region to boston market for 22 million . 20 1995 hardee s sells 45 company owned roy rogers restaurants in the new york region to wendy s international inc. 21 1996 hardee s sells 184 company owned roy rogers restaurants in the baltimore washington region to mcdonald s for 74 million . 22 1996 only 13 roy rogers franchisees remain operating a total of about 152 units through the northeast including 48 units in highway travel plazas and 15 in new york city . 23 1997 cke restaurants carl s jr. acquires hardee s from imasco . imasco retains roy rogers trademark due to a franchisee lawsuit . 1997 the riese family now franchisees of 18 roy rogers restaurants sues cke restaurants and imasco for 10 million claiming the roy rogers chain has been destroyed through a series of marketing errors of epic proportions . 24 1997 cke enters into a management agreement for the six roy rogers restaurants currently operated by hardee s. cke also agrees to perform services relating to the continued franchise operations of the roy rogers restaurant chain for 1.5 million over three years . 1990s franchisee plamondon enterprises inc. opens two and acquires three roy rogers locations . 2000 plamondon enterprises inc. opens a new roy rogers prototype unit in frederick maryland . 2001 plamondon enterprises inc. develops and opens a new roy rogers unit in germantown maryland sugarloaf shopping center in a former burger king . 2002 imasco sells roy rogers trademark rights to plamondon enterprises inc. roy rogers franchise co. . 2003 hmshost formerly host marriott services signs agreement to continue operating roy rogers in travel plazas . 2003 roy rogers franchise company unveils its roy rogers rides again refranchising growth initiative . 2003 roy rogers restaurants launches royrogersrestaurants.com website . 2004 roy rogers opens in gaithersburg maryland in a former hardee s. 2004 todd restaurants inc. sign new long term pioneer franchise agreement for its four roy rogers locations in alexandria virginia . 2005 smithgifford is selected as the agency of record for roy rogers restaurants . 25 2006 roy rogers restaurants rank 4th in the franchise times 20 to watch in 2006 . 2007 roy rogers opens in ranson west virginia and westminster maryland . 2007 super value ct llc enters into a long term franchise agreement for a roy rogers location in north stonington connecticut . 2008 roy rogers opens in north stonington connecticut on january 24 2008 . 2008 roy rogers opens in the renovated pennsylvania turnpike lehigh valley allentown service plaza . 2009 roy rogers opens a second location in germantown maryland fox chapel shopping center on january 28 2009 in a former wendy s. 2009 roy rogers closes in manchester connecticut leaving one restaurant in connecticut . 26 2009 roy rogers closes in penn station leaving one restaurant in new york city . 27 the last remaining location in new york is directly across the street from penn station on seventh avenue . 2009 roy rogers restaurants re designs royrogersrestaurants.com website . 2009 roy rogers restaurants creates official profiles on facebook twitter and youtube . 2009 last roy rogers in delaware closes on december 26 2009 for delaware house service plaza redevelopment ; it was replaced with burger king on june 28 2010 . 28 29 2010 last roy rogers on long island closes on november 29 2010 . 2012 last roy rogers in ohio located on roney lane in mt. carmel an eastern suburb of cincinnati changes its name to roney s. 2014 retains a modified roy rogers sign at this time . 2012 roy rogers opens in burtonsville maryland in the new burtonsville town square shopping center . 2013 roy rogers opens in waldorf maryland at 3310 crain highway in a former arby s