Type

Public (NASDAQ: DENN)

Industry Restaurants

Genre Family dining

Founded 1953

Headquarters Spartanburg, South Carolina, U.S.

Number of locations 1,650+[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 www.dennys.com

 

Denny's (also seen as Denny's Diner on some of the locations' signage) is a full-service coffee shop/family restaurant chain. It operates over 1,600 restaurants in the United States (including Puerto Rico), Canada, Curaçao, Costa Rica, Honduras, Japan (transliterated as デニーズDenīzu), 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 or 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. 

 

A Denny's Restaurant in Ontario, California.

 

A Halloweenpancake at a Denny's restaurant in Tokyo

 

The neon sign of a Denny's in San Clemente, California

 

History

Richard Jezak and Harold Butler founded Denny's (as Danny's Donuts) in Lakewood, California in 1953. Their first store opened at 4917 Bellflower Blvd. at Del Amo Blvd. in Lakewood, CA on July 30, 1954. Denny's expanded to twenty restaurants by 1959, when the chain was renamed Denny's to avoid confusion with another chain, "Coffee Dan's". The business continued to grow and by 1981, there were over 1,000 restaurants in all 50 U.S. states. 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.

 

Denny's headquarters were located in Irvine, California, until 1991. At that time, the main office was 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. 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.

 

For much of its history, Denny's offered a free meal to anyone on his or her birthday. The offer included a limited number of meal options from a special birthday menu. The promotional ritual ceased in 1993; though occasionally individual franchises will continue the tradition.

 

The Denny's Diner prototype

 

Denny's Diner in Bangor, Maine, inspired by 1950s culture.
 

Some Denny's restaurants use 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 there are about forty Denny's Diners in the United States. In addition, there are several diners that resemble the modular buildings but are actually stick construction.

 

Domestic and international growth

 

A Denny's restaurant in Tokyo, Japan
 

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. 123 Pilot Flying J conversions were completed, making Denny's the leading full service restaurant brand in travel centers.

 

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, 2 in Guam, 60 in Canada, 5 in Mexico, 3 in Costa Rica, 2 in Honduras, and 8 in New Zealand. There is also a Denny's attached to the Holiday Beach Hotel in Otrabanda, Willemstad, Curaçao in the Netherlands Antilles. Along with the regular Denny's Menu, the Curaçao restaurant offers a selection of local ("kriyoyo") dishes. There are also about 578 Denny's restaurants in Japan operated independently under a license by a subsidiary of Seven & I Holdings.

 

In June of 2012, Denny's opened a location in the Las Américas International Airport, its first location in an airport and its first in the Dominican Republic. In July of 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 yet.

 

Health inspection records

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: Bob Evans, Red Lobster, Waffle House, Chili's, Ruby Tuesday, IHOP, Applebee's, TGI Friday's, Outback Steakhouse, and Denny's. 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 evaluated by Dateline 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.

 

Animal welfare efforts

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.