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Roark Capital Group
Roark Capital Management, LLC, also known as Roark Capital Group or simply Roark Capital, is an American private equity firm with around $37 billion in assets under management. The firm is focused on leveraged buyout investments in middle-market companies, primarily in the franchise/multi-location, restaurant and food, health and wellness, and business services sectors. It is named for Howard Roark, the protagonist in Ayn Rand's novel '' The Fountainhead''. The firm claims that its name is not meant to connote any particular political philosophy but instead signify the firm's admiration for the iconoclastic qualities of independence and self-assurance embodied by the central figure in ''The Fountainhead''. History The firm, which is based in Atlanta, Georgia, was founded in 2001 by the current Managing Partner, Neal K. Aronson. Prior to founding Roark Capital Group in 2001, Aronson was a co-founder of U.S. Franchise Systems in 1995. Investments Roark's current and former por ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Privately Held Company
A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose Stock, shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in their respective listed markets. Instead, the Private equity, company's stock is offered, owned, traded or exchanged privately, also known as "over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter". Related terms are unlisted organisation, unquoted company and private equity. Private companies are often less well-known than their public company, publicly traded counterparts but still have major importance in the world's economy. For example, in 2008, the 441 list of largest private non-governmental companies by revenue, largest private companies in the United States accounted for $1.8 trillion in revenues and employed 6.2 million people, according to ''Forbes''. In general, all companies that are not owned by the government are classified as private enterprises. This definition encompasses both publ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anytime Fitness
Anytime Fitness Franchisor, LLC, doing business as Anytime Fitness, is an American franchise of 24 hour health and fitness clubs that is based in Woodbury, Minnesota, United States. The company operates over 5,000 franchised locations in 50 countries. In 2014, Anytime Fitness was named the top franchise of 2014 by ''Entrepreneur'' magazine. The parent company of Anytime Fitness merged with Orangetheory Fitness in 2024. History The founders, Chuck Runyon, Dave Mortensen, and Jeff Klinger initially met in the early 1990s while employed at a fitness club in St. Paul, Minnesota. Their collaboration began in 1995 when they jointly acquired and operated the Southview Athletic Club for seven years. Under their ownership, the club grew in membership, growing from 500 to 4,000 members. It was sold in 2001. During their ownership of Southview Athletic Club, they developed the idea for Anytime Fitness after surveying the expectations that long-term members of large gyms had for their fit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jamba Juice
Jamba, formerly known as Jamba Juice, is an American quick-service restaurant and juice bar chain that sells blended fruit and vegetable juices, smoothies, and other food products. The first Jamba location, originally named Juice Club, opened in 1990 in San Luis Obispo, California. Jamba is owned by GoTo Foods, an affiliate of private equity firm Roark Capital Group, which completed its acquisition in 2019. The company has more than 850 locations operating in 36 states in the United States, and also has locations in Australia, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia. History Jamba Juice was opened by Kirk Perron at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Perron, who worked as a supermarket manager and was also an avid cyclist and healthy-lifestyle advocate, opened the restaurant because he was dissatisfied with the quality of post-workout snacks, saying, “The marketplace was mostly filled with fat.” The first restaurant, na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cinnabon
Cinnabon, Inc., is an American chain of baked goods stores and kiosks, normally found in areas with high pedestrian traffic such as malls, airports and rest stops. The company's signature item is the cinnamon roll. As of December 2017, there were more than 1,200 Cinnabon bakeries operating in 48 countries. Its headquarters are in Sandy Springs, Georgia, United States.Cinnabon At-A-Glance ." Cinnabon. Retrieved on February 25, 2010.City Council Districts ." City of Sandy Springs. Retrieved on July 4, 2009. The company is co-owned—with Schlotzsky's [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carvel (restaurant)
Carvel is an American ice cream franchise owned by GoTo Foods (formerly Focus Brands). Carvel is best known for its soft-serve ice cream and ice cream cakes, which feature a layer of distinctive "crunchies". It also sells a variety of novelty ice cream bars and ice cream sandwiches. Its slogan is "America's Freshest Ice Cream". Carvel operates a chain of ice cream outlets spread across 16 states and Puerto Rico. Mainly concentrated in the Northeast United States and Florida, its stores are primarily located in high-traffic areas such as airports, malls, and sports arenas. The company also sells ice cream cakes in more than 8,500 supermarkets. Since 2001, the corporation has been owned by Roark Capital Group and operated as part of Focus Brands. As of 2025, the company reports having 326 locations in 16 states and eight countries. Novelty ice creams Carvel popularized various novelty ice cream items, such as the "Flying Saucer", a circular ice cream sandwich; the "Icy Wycy", ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Auntie Anne's
Auntie Anne's is an American franchised chain of pretzel shops founded by Anne F. Beiler and her husband, Jonas, in 1988. Auntie Anne's serves products such as pretzels, dips, and beverages. They also offer Pretzels & More Homemade Baking Mix for those who want to make their pretzels at home. The chain has more than 1,200 stores around various locations, such as in shopping malls and outlet malls, as well as non-traditional retail spaces including universities, parking/rest areas, airports, train stations, travel plazas, amusement parks, and military bases. Their slogan as of 2010 is "Pretzel Perfect". History The chain started as a market stand in the Downingtown, Pennsylvania, Farmer's Market in 1988. A second location opened in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania at the Broad Street Market in 1988 before franchising. The franchise began when a store location opened at Saturday's Market in Middletown, Pennsylvania. Auntie Anne's celebrated their 100th store opening in Granite Run Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GoTo Foods
GoTo Foods (formerly Focus Brands) is an American company that currently owns the Schlotzsky's, Carvel, Cinnabon, Moe's Southwest Grill, McAlister's Deli, Auntie Anne's and Jamba brands. It is located in Sandy Springs, Georgia, and operates over 6,700 stores globally. History Focus Brands began as a holding company for Carvel Corporation. It purchased Cinnabon and the international operations of Seattle's Best Coffee from AFC Enterprises in November 2004, combining the three brands under its Focus Brands affiliate. Focus Brands purchased Schlotzsky's from Bobby Cox Companies in 2006, less than two years after Bobby Cox had purchased the brand from bankruptcy. On August 11, 2007, Focus Brands announced that it purchased the Moe's Southwest Grill brand from Raving Brands. In October 2010, Focus Brands acquired the mostly mall-based franchiser Auntie Anne's, a maker of pretzels. In June 2017, Kat Cole was named Chief Operating Officer. On August 2, 2018, Focus Brands annou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meineke Car Care Center
Meineke Car Care Centers, Inc., more commonly known as Meineke ( ) is a franchise-based international automotive repair chain with 966 locations. The chain is ranked #52 in the Franchise 500 (2014) and #54 in America’s Top Global (2013). Previously known as Meineke Discount Mufflers, the company changed its name to Meineke Car Care Centers in 2003 when it expanded to offer full-service auto repairs. History Meineke was founded in 1971 in Houston, Texas, by Sam Meineke. He started to franchise the name in 1972, with Harold Nedell. In 1983, GKN, a multinational British company, bought out Meineke Discount Mufflers. In 1986, the company headquarters moved to Charlotte, North Carolina. In 2003, the same year Meineke Discount Muffler Shops, Inc. became Meineke Car Care Centers, Inc., Meineke became a privately held company, no longer publicly traded. In January 2021 the parent company of Meineke, Driven Brands, had an IPO and began trading on NASDAQ with the ticker symbol DRVN. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dave's Hot Chicken
Dave's Hot Chicken is an American fast casual restaurant chain headquartered in Pasadena, California which serves Nashville-style hot chicken. Founded in 2017 in Los Angeles, California with a single restaurant, the chain expanded to over 100 locations in four countries by mid-2022. Dave's Hot Chicken celebrity investors include Drake (musician), Drake, Samuel L. Jackson, Maria Shriver, Michael Strahan and Tom Werner. In June 2025, Dave’s Hot Chicken was acquired by the private equity firm Roark Capital in a deal valued at $1 billion. Menu The chain's menu is simple, consisting only of 4 choices of hot chicken Chicken fingers, tenders, Slider (sandwich), sliders or both. Tenders are served on white bread, while sliders are served on buns with Pickled cucumber, pickles, house-made "Coleslaw, kale slaw" and a chipotle Mayonnaise, mayo sauce known as Dave's Sauce. Customers are offered the choice of seven different spice levels for their chicken, ranging from "no spice" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Culver's
Culver Franchising System, LLC, doing business as Culver's, is an American fast-casual Chain store, restaurant chain. The company was founded in 1984 by George, Ruth, Craig Culver, Craig, and Lea Culver. The first location opened in Sauk City, Wisconsin, on July 18, 1984, under the name "Culver's Frozen Custard and ButterBurgers." The privately held company is headquartered in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin. The chain operates primarily in the Midwestern United States, and has a total of 1,000 restaurants in 26 states History Sauk City restaurateurs and husband and wife team George and Ruth Culver started their fast food careers as the owners of an A&W Restaurant, A&W on Phillips Boulevard (U.S. Route 12 in Wisconsin, U.S. Highway 12) in 1961. In 1968, they purchased a resort-styled restaurant at Devil's Lake (Wisconsin), Devil's Lake called The Farm Kitchen. Their son, Craig Culver, worked for a local McDonald's right out of college in 1973. On July 18, 1984, George, Ruth, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Green Burrito
CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc. (an acronym for Carl Karcher Enterprises) is an American fast food corporation and is the parent organization for the Carl's Jr., Hardee's, Green Burrito, and Red Burrito brands. CKE Restaurants is headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee. In October 2020, CKE Restaurants operated or franchised to locations in 44 US states and 43 foreign countries and US territories. History 1940s In 1941, Carl's Jr. founder, Carl Karcher, entered the fast food market by purchasing a hot dog cart in Los Angeles. 1950s In 1956, Karcher opened the first Carl's Jr. restaurants in Anaheim and Brea, California. 1990s In 1996, CKE acquired Rally's and Taco Bueno. The plan was to rebranded Rally's into the Carl's Jr. imaging, though they later determined later in the year that Rally's was not suitable. In 1997, CKE acquired Hardee's from Canadian-based company Imasco. By 1999, CKE rebranded Hardee's into the Carl's Jr. imaging including the Happy Star l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
