JB's Family Restaurants was a

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A ...

restaurants A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in app ...

located in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

and

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

. The

Tempe, Arizona Tempe ( ; ''Oidbaḍ'' in O'odham language, O'odham) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2020 population of 180,587. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in t ...

-based company was originally established in 1961 as a

Big Boy restaurants Big Boy is an American casual dining restaurant chain store, chain headquartered in Southfield, Michigan; it is currently operated in most of the United States by Big Boy Restaurant Group, LLC. The Big Boy name, design aesthetic, and menu were ...

affiliate named JB's Big Boy. The company eventually dropped its Big Boy affiliation in 1988. At its height, there were 104 JB's branded restaurants in 1995. A series of bankruptcies then forced the chain to close in 2019.

History

Big Boy beginnings

JB's Family Restaurants was founded in 1961 by Jack M. Broberg as JB's Big Boy, a

affiliate, in

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Utah County, Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front, and lies between the cities of Orem, Utah, Orem to the north and Springville, Utah, Springville to the south ...

. The first JB's Big Boy opened there on November 21, 1961. Broberg chose the location because many students at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

in Provo came from Southern California where Big Boy was popular, as well as the need for a family restaurant in the Provo area. In 1963, the holding company was renamed JB's Big Boy Family Restaurants, Inc. The company became public in July 1971 and its stock quickly sold out at its first offering. In the 1970s JB's expanded by acquiring neighboring Big Boy franchisees: Vip's, Leo's, Kebo's, and Bud's; and the subfranchisee: Bob's Big Boy of Arizona. In 1970 JB's became the Big Boy franchisor in New Jersey and built five restaurants in the state, but in 1975 it sold the territory and stores to the Marriott Corp. who

rebranded Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investors ...

them as

Bob's Big Boy Bob's Big Boy is a casual dining restaurant chain founded by Bob Wian in Southern California in 1936, originally named Bob's Pantry. The chain's signature product is the Big Boy Restaurants#The Big Boy hamburger, Big Boy hamburger, which Wian c ...

s. The sale funded expansion in the

western US The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is census regions United States Census Bureau As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the mea ...

. By the 1980s JB's sought additional franchise territory in the western US. After the Marriott Corp. – then owner of the Big Boy system – refused granting additional territory, in 1984, JB's sued to leave Big Boy. The parties settled, JB's paying $7 million in exchange for additional territory, including central and northern California, and Oregon, where (as in Washington, Nevada and Arizona) it operated as

; JB's also purchased 29 existing Bob's Big Boy restaurants from Marriott. Citing the sale of Big Boy to Elias Brothers, in 1988 JB's allowed its Big Boy franchise to expire, removing 110 units from the Big Boy system.

Diversification and later separation from Big Boy

In 1984, JB's purchased 16 restaurants from the Salem, Oregon-based VIP's chain. At that time, JB's Restaurants was based in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

and had 80 restaurants, excluding the new acquisitions. In 1988 JB's dropped Big Boy, allowing its franchise agreement to lapse after Marriott sold the Big Boy chain. In 1995, the holding company changed its name to Summit Family Restaurants Inc. just before selling itself to

CKE Restaurants 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 ...

for $34.5 million in cash and stock. At the time of the sale, Summit had operated or franchised 104 JB's family-style restaurants, six Galaxy Diners and 16 HomeTown Buffet restaurants. In 1998, CKE sold JB's Family Restaurants Inc., to Santa Barbara Restaurant Group for one million shares of Santa Barbara's common stock. In March 2000,

Santa Barbara Restaurant Group Santa Barbara Restaurant Group was a restaurant holding company and was the parent company for the ''Green Burrito'', ''La Salsa'', '' JB's Restaurants'', and the '' Timber Lodge Steakhouse'' restaurant chain. The ''Santa Barbara Restaurant Group ...

sold JB's Family Restaurants to a group led by Lynn Whiteford, the chief operating officer for JB's. The sale includes 52 company-owned JB's as well as 29 franchised units.

Bankruptcy

On March 9, 2011, JB's Family Restaurants filed for bankruptcy. At the time of the bankruptcy filing, JB's Family Restaurants had operated seven corporate restaurants and had 15 franchised restaurants in six Western states after closing 26 other locations. In 2019, JB's Family Restaurants again declared bankruptcy, leading to the closure of its last remaining Galaxy Diner in

Flagstaff, Arizona Flagstaff ( ), known locally as Flag, is the county seat of Coconino County, Arizona, in the southwestern United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 76,831. Flagstaff is the principal city of the Coconino Cou ...

. JB's subsequently sold Galaxy to the diner's manager, Will Pillen; the diner reopened in August 2020, no longer with any association with JB's Family Restaurants. In June 2019, JB's Family Restaurants abruptly closed the doors of all of its remaining restaurants and deactivated its website.

Notes

References

External links

* *{{cite web , url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/summit-family-restaurants-inc-history/ , title=Summit Family Restaurants Inc. History , work=FundingUniverse Companies based in Salt Lake City Defunct restaurant chains in the United States Restaurants established in 1961 Big Boy Restaurants 1961 establishments in Utah Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2011 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2019