Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
SANDY'S DRIVE INN
SANDY'S DRIVE INN. In 1956, four men set out to start one of the first McDonald's franchises outside the McDonald brothers' home state of California. Ray Kroc had just begun selling McDonald's franchises outside California, and the four friends partnered to buy the right to open McDonald’s restaurants in central Illinois. In June 1956, they opened their first restaurant in Urbana, Illinois, only the third McDonald’s restaurant to open outside California. The Urbana store proved popular with students, professionals, and young families at the University of Illinois. It did so well that the group decided to open additional stores in Decatur, and Peoria, Illinois.
However, Ray Kroc notified them that Peoria and Decatur were not included in the central Illinois territory, and furthermore that changes to the terms of the franchise meant they would owe a higher percentage of their profits to McDonald's. Having invested heavily in the Peoria location, including erecting the building, the partners decided instead to open their own restaurant, and settled on the name Sandy's. The chain adopted a Scottish-based theme to combat the Scottish-rooted McDonald's, even though the latter was not based on a cultural theme of any kind.
Sandy's was different in a number of ways from other fast food chains of the time:
1) Operators of most restaurants owned their stores and did not lease from the corporation.
2) Operators were not required to buy supplies from the corporation, instead being permitted to "shop around" as long as the supplies met company standards.
3) The company president visited every store periodically and became personally acquainted with every employee.
Lawsuits with McDonald's ensued. In 1979 the company was merged with Hardees.
The 1968 and 1972 Dubuque City Directory listed 2282 University and 420 Rhomberg.
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Source:
Day, Mike. "The Golden Age of Drive-Ins," Telegraph Herald, June 24, 2012
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