Family Buys Name, Franchise Rights
FREDERICK, Md. -- Roy Rogers restaurants could be making a comeback.
A family that helped launch the first Roy Rogers restaurant bought the company's name and franchising rights in hopes of rebuilding the fast-food chain across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic.
Roy Rogers has restaurants in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Only 63 Roy Rogers outlets remain nationwide, compared with 648 stores at the company's peak in the 1980s. But brothers James and Peter Plamondon, of Frederick, Md., hope to double the number of eateries within five years.
Their father was an executive in the restaurant division of Marriott International 30 years ago when the Bethesda-based company and cowboy movie star Roy Rogers started the roast-beef sandwich chain.