be confused with a & w root beer . see also a & w canada 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 . september 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message a & w restaurants inc. type private industry fast food founded 1923 ; 93 years ago 1923 sacramento california u.s. founder roy w. allen frank wright headquarters lexington kentucky u.s. 1 number of locations about 1 200 area served 16 countries and territories key people kevin bazner ceo 2 products hot dogs root beer cheese curds hamburgers chicken parent a great american brand llc website awrestaurants.com an american a & w restaurant in page arizona a & w restaurants inc. is a chain of fast food restaurants distinguished by its draft root beer and root beer floats . a & w opened a drive in restaurant in sacramento california in 1923 . the company name was taken from the surname initials of partners roy w. allen and frank wright . the company became famous in the united states for its frosty mugs where the mug would be kept in the freezer prior to being filled with root beer and served to the customer . beginning to franchise in 1925 today it has franchise locations throughout much of the world serving a typical fast food menu of hamburgers and french fries as well as hot dogs . a number of its outlets are drive in restaurants with carhops . previously owned by yum brands the chain was sold to a consortium of a & w franchisees through a great american brand llc in december 2011 . 3 a & w restaurants in canada have been part of a separate and unaffiliated chain since 1972 . contents 1 history 1.1 yum brands subsidiary 1.2 a great american brand subsidiary 2 mascots 3 new products 4 gallery 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit in june 1919 lodi california roy w. allen opened his first root beer stand . in 1923 a & w began when alan and frank wright opened an a & w drive in restaurant in sacramento california combining both of their initials for the name and selling the root beer from allen s stand . curbside service was provided by tray boys and tray girls . in 1924 allen purchased frank wright s stake in the business . in 1925 allen began franchising the root beer while the franchisee added the other menu items and operated at their discretion . this may have arguably been the first successful food franchising operation . allen sold the company in 1950 and retired . 4 in the expansion years of the 1950s and 1960s franchisees were signing 20 or 25 year contracts under the older model . 4 the chain went international in 1956 when a & w opened in winnipeg and montreal canada . by 1960 a & w had 2 000 retail stores . citation needed in 1963 the chain opened its first store on okinawa . 5 in the following years the chain branched into other foreign markets including the philippines and malaysia . dale mulder opened up a lansing michigan a & w franchise in 1961 . 4 mulder added to his menu in 1963 the bacon cheeseburger after a customer made repeated orders for bacon to be added to his cheeseburger . thus a & w is credited with inventing the bacon cheeseburger . 6 in 1963 the company was sold again followed by another sale in 1967 to united fruit co. conglomerate . amk corporation purchased united fruit in 1970 . then amk formed united brands company to hold a & w. 4 in 1971 a & w beverages inc. a beverage subsidiary began supplying bottled a & w products to grocery stores . the bottled products rapidly became available nationally . 4 in the 1970s a & w had more stores than mcdonald s. 7 with a peak in 1974 of 2 400 units . 4 oshkosh wisconsin franchise manager jim brajdic said problems back then including a lawsuit franchisee discontent and inconsistencies in the operation caused the chain to flounder and branches to close . 7 a & w moved to a modern style franchise agreement which introduced royalty payments and new standards . which as their 20 or 25 year original agreement expired many franchise refused the terms a & w in the 1980s began offering the third pounder to compete with mcdonald s quarter pounder . the third beat the quarter in taste test and was less expensive . all of this was cited in the marketing of the burger . however customers assumed that the third pounder had less meat then the quarter pounder thus refusing to buy it . 8 in 1982 a. alfred taubman purchased a & w 9 and placed under taubman investment co. 4 taubman only purchased the restaurant company and not a & w beverages . the chain dropped to less than 500 locations in the mid 1980s . a freeze to issuing franchisees was put in place . 4 a new format concept a & w great food restaurants was developed . 10 corporate owned location were opened to test the concept which was a sit down upscale family theme with a large salad bar and homemade ice cream . 4 in 1986 the company was headquartered in livonia michigan and mulder became ceo and president . the freeze was lived and a push occurred in 1986 that added 60 franchisee units . 4 in 1989 a & w made an agreement with minnesota based carousel snack bars to convert that chain s 200 stores mostly kiosks in shopping malls to a & w hot dogs & more . 10 11 some a & w hot dogs & more are still operating . 7 in 1995 taubman sold a & w to sidney feltenstein . 9 a & w merged with long john silver s to form yorkshire global restaurants based in lexington kentucky . yorkshire in 2000 agreed to test multibranded locations with tricon global restaurants . by march 2002 the yorkshire tricon multibranding test consisted of 83 kfc a & ws six kfc long john silver s and three taco bell long john silver s and was considered successful by the companies . 12 in the late 2000s a & w added franchises with a nostalgic look and modern technology . they have a carhop design with drive thrus and some have picnic tables . 7 yum brands subsidiary edit in march 2002 tricon global announced the acquisition of yorkshire and name change to yum brands . 12 13 a & w opened its first outlet in bangladesh on 15 december 2010 . the food served is 100 % halal and is very popular with the local youth population with root beer being the driving force of the large number of sales . a & w bangladesh serves an all you can eat offer during the muslim holy month of ramadan and boishakhi bonanza during the bengali new year . 14 most a & w stores that opened in the u.s. in recent years were co branded with another of yum s chains long john silver s pizza hut taco bell or kentucky fried chicken . a great american brand subsidiary edit in january 2011 yum brands announced its intention to sell a & w along with long john silver s. citing poor sales for both divisions yum planned to focus on international expansion for its remaining brands with particular emphasis on growth in china . 15 in september 2011 yum announced that it would sell the chain to a great american brand a consortium of various a & w franchisees in the united states and overseas . 13 the sale was finalized on december 19 2011 under the leadership of returning ceo kevin m. bazner . 3 in october 2013 a & w opened its first new concept restaurant a & w burgers chicken floats . the new concept focuses on fresh made to order food and heavily emphasizes customer service . the menu features burgers made with fresh beef and a choice of toppings hand breaded chicken tenders all beef hot dogs and several sides . as of 2013 the chain consisted of more than 1 200 restaurants citation needed 350 of which were international stores in ten countries and territories . mascots edit the roadside sign in front of the middlebury vermont location in 1963 a & w introduced four choices of hamburgers and their corresponding burger family members papa burger mama burger teen burger and baby burger . each burger had a wrapper featuring a cartoon image of the corresponding character . many locations featured fiberglass statues of the family in front of their stores . 16 the papa burger consisted of two 1 8 pound beef patties with two slices of american cheese lettuce tomato onion pickles and a & w s proprietary sauce similar to thousand island dressing on a sesame seed bun . the mama burger was the same only with a single 1 8 pound patty and a plain bun while the teen burger had a single 1 4 pound patty and included slices of bacon also served on a sesame seed bun . the baby burger was made with one 1 8 pound beef patty ketchup mustard and pickles served on a plain bun . rooty the great american root bear originated in canada in 1974 and first appeared in the united states in 1976 . throughout the 1970s 80s and 90s rooty was the face of a & w both the bottled drinks and the restaurant chain on television and print advertising . his presence all but disappeared in the late 1990s but in 2011 under new ownership rooty has come out of retirement . he has since been featured in print ads on a & w s website as the voice of their official twitter account and in a variety of youtube and vine videos . in 2013 rooty became the first mascot to have an official linkedin profile which was quickly shut down as rooty was not considered real by the authorities at linkedin . in 1998 the characters from the comic strip blondie including blondie and dagwood bumstead were licensed for use at a & w franchisees as part of an all american food campaign . 17 in the 1960s a character named chubby chicken appeared on all chubby burgers . new products edit in the spring of 2013 a & w introduced its first new product in several years a six ounce version of its soft serve blended dessert treat . mini polar swirls were the first product to be launched on vine . 18 the following summer 250 of a & w s restaurants began hand breading their chicken tenders moving towards higher quality menu items and expanding their chicken category . in april 2014 the hand breaded chicken tender texas toast sandwich was added to the menu as a limited time offering along with a campaign to create the world s longest branded hashtag . 19 in june 2014 a & w launched two new flavors of its polar swirl dessert treat sour patch kids and nutter butter . citation needed gallery edit fried chicken with rice jakarta indonesia a & w waffles ice cream malaysia a 1950s a & w burger family in hillsboro oregon an a & w drive in in 1973 see also edit food portal companies portal a & w canada a & w root beer list of drive in restaurants references edit sloan scott 9 december 2011 . a & w returning headquarters to lexington . lexington herald leader . retrieved 20 july 2012 . a & w restaurants inc. 1 july 2014 . a