industry restaurants genre casual dining founded november 19 1980 ; 35 years ago 1980 11 19 decatur georgia u.s. 1 founder bill palmer t.j. palmer headquarters kansas city missouri u.s. number of locations 2 033 2015 2 area served worldwide key people julia stewart ceo of dineequity inc. ; interim president of applebee s revenue us 2.5 billion 2006 3 operating income us 131 million 2006 3 net income us 81 million 2006 3 total assets us 935 million 2006 3 total equity us 487 million 2006 3 number of employees 28 000 2013 4 parent dineequity website www.applebees.com applebee s international inc. is an american company which develops franchises and operates the applebee s neighborhood grill and bar restaurant chain . as of december 2015 there were 2 033 restaurants operating system wide in the united states one u.s. territory puerto rico and 15 other countries all owned and operated by franchisees . 2 the company is headquartered in kansas city missouri after moving from lenexa kansas in september 2011 . 5 on september 3 2015 it was announced that owner dineequity would be consolidating its headquarters for applebee s and ihop to dineequity s glendale california location . 6 as a result president steven r. layt chose not to relocate and resigned effective september 4 2015 . 7 the applebee s concept focuses on casual dining with mainstream american dishes such as salads shrimp chicken pasta and riblets which is considered applebee s signature dish . all applebee s restaurants feature a bar area and serve alcoholic beverages except where prohibited by law . on november 29 2007 ihop now dineequity announced that it had completed a 2 billion purchase of the applebee s chain . 8 9 contents 1 history 1.1 acquisition by dineequity 2 company headquarters 3 advertising 4 controversies 4.1 side work compensation 5 references 6 external links history edit headquarters in lenexa now called restaurant support center locations that have carside to go usually have two or three designated parking spaces and a separate entrance for the take out service . this location is in la habra california . the applebee s chain was started by bill and t. j. palmer who opened their first restaurant t.j. applebee s rx for edibles & elixirs in decatur georgia on november 19 1980 . 10 after opening their second restaurant the pair sold their company to w. r. grace and company in 1983 . as part of the transaction bill palmer was named president of the applebee s division an indirect subsidiary of w. r. grace and company . in that capacity palmer guided the operation from its entrepreneurial beginnings to a full fledged franchise system . he became an applebee s franchisee in 1985 and today owns more than three dozen applebee s restaurants . in 1986 the name of the concept was changed to applebee s neighborhood grill & bar to reflect the palmers original concept of a place people could call their own . in 1988 applebee s international inc. became the restaurant chain s franchiser when kansas city franchisees abe gustin and john hamra purchased the rights to the applebee s concept from w. r. grace . 11 some applebee s locations applebee s restaurant in yonkers new york typical applebee s in coral springs florida applebee s riyadh saudi arabia acquisition by dineequity edit on july 16 2007 ihop corp. announced that it agreed to buy applebee s international for about 2.1 billion . applebee s shareholders would receive 25.50 in cash per share representing a 4.6 % premium to the closing price on july 13 2007 . 8 after the acquisition ihop corp. changed its name to dineequity inc. 12 dineequity which franchises nearly all of its restaurants said it hoped to employ that strategy with applebee s. with their merger in november 2007 applebee s and ihop combined to make the largest full service restaurant company in the world with more than 3 250 locations . 9 13 company headquarters edit applebee s kansas city area headquarters was at 3929 broadway in kansas city missouri in 1988 . in 1993 it relocated to overland park kansas . in january 2008 it relocated to neighboring lenexa kansas per an agreement made in 2005 before it was taken over by ihop now dineequity to a new 175 000 square foot 16 300 m2 building designed by bnim lured by a 90 percent property tax reduction offer . 14 however dineequity has since been downsizing the headquarters presence as it has begun a strategy of converting its company owned restaurants to franchises with a goal of having 98 percent of its restaurants franchised by 2013 . in july 2008 dineequity sold the headquarters officially called the restaurant support center for 39 million in a sale leaseback arrangement . the company has now listed the headquarters for sale and is reported looking for new space after it was announced on january 30 2009 that its headquarters staff of 325 did not meet lenexa s requirement that at least 497 be employed at the headquarters to receive the property tax abatement . 15 in 2011 it announced plans to relocate to 8140 ward parkway in kansas city proper after receiving 12.65 million in incentives from missouri . advertising edit this section needs to be updated . please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . september 2016 as part of the company s marketing campaign and slogan wanda sykes was hired to voice the chain s new mascot the applebee s apple . 16 the character appears in commercials touting applebee s various specials and stating the new slogan together is good . or saying get it together baby as the slogan appears at the bottom right of the screen . a new campaign started on february 25 2008 without sykes character the spokesapple with its slogan it s a whole new neighborhood . the commercials used both the company s original and new logos . citation needed in 2009 applebee s changed its slogan again to there s no place like the neighborhood . as of 2012 applebee s is airing an advertising campaign focusing on fresh ingredients and new dishes narrated by jason sudeikis featuring the slogan see you tomorrow . 17 controversies edit side work compensation edit since 2006 applebee s and its servers have been engaged in a lawsuit over hourly wages . the servers who received a federal minimum wage of 2.13 per hour as tipped employees allege that the company requires them to spend 20 % of their time doing non serving labor for which they should be paid the federal minimum wage of 7.25 per hour . the case has gone through several stages including a judicially mandated binding arbitration session . 18 19 references edit the history of applebees september 7 2015 a b 2015 dineequity annual report a b c d e applebee s form 10 k annual report filing date mar 1 2007 pdf . secdatabase.com . retrieved jan 11 2013 . faqs . applebee s. retrieved october 11 2013 . applebee s form 8 k current report filing date apr 5 2011 . secdatabase.com . retrieved jan 11 2013 . dineequity inc. investor relations news release . investors.dineequity.com . retrieved 2015 09 05 . greg palmer . applebee s moving from kansas city to california . wibw.com . retrieved 2015 09 05 . a b applebee s form 8 k current report filing date dec 5 2007 . secdatabase.com . retrieved jan 11 2013 . a b ihop corp. successfully completes the acquisition of applebee s international inc. press release . ihop corp. november 29 2007 . retrieved april 10 2012 . palmer t.j. applebees founder history . opening . retrieved on april 16 2012 . hoover s company locations and addresses applebee s international inc . dead link dineequity form 8 k current report filing date jun 2 2008 pdf . secdatabase.com . retrieved jan 11 2013 . applebee s form 8 k current report filing date jul 16 2007 . secdatabase.com . retrieved jan 11 2013 . applebee s celebrates grand opening of its new headquarters in lenexa . easyir.com . retrieved april 10 2012 . applebee s job salary levels come up short for abatement on hq . kansas city business journal . february 9 2009 . retrieved april 10 2012 . quenqua douglas october 25 2007 . polishing up the apple in applebee s . the new york times . retrieved april 10 2012 . applebees 2012 commercials . adwhois . archived from the original on august 1 2012 . retrieved 25 august 2012 . judge orders mediation in applebee s lawsuit . kansas city business journal . october 12 2007 . retrieved april 10 2012 . prewitt milford october 21 2007 . applebee s wages fight over nontipped duties . nation s restaurant news . retrieved april 10 2012 . external links edit official website dineequity inc. website applebee s historical sec filings dineequity inc sec filings retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title applebee % 27s & oldid 742310188 categories 1980 establishments in georgia u.s. state companies based in kansas city missourirestaurant chains in the united statesrestaurants established in 1980companies that have filed for chapter 7 bankruptcyhidden categories all articles with dead 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