tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption

CHAIN -- Shakey's
Owner -- The Jacmar Companies
Primary Operating Region -- Once nationwide, now all but six are in California
Number of Locations -- 51, mostly in California

Okay...So maybe it's NOT all over.

Shakey's largest franchisee has purchased the chain.  Franchisees are elated.  It's the first positive sign for the chain in years, and it's just in time for the chain's 50th anniversary.

Once not just a giant...but THE giant of the pizza world...Shakey's has come crashing down in recent years.  Shakey's used to be everywhere.  Now a scattering of stores populate primarily California.  Domestically in the seventies, there were 450 nationwide.

Shakey's was born in Sacramento in 1954 when Sherwood "Shakey" Johnson and a college friend pooled their money to open their parlor in a building previously housing a grocery store.  The pizza parlor didn't even sell pizza the first day (the ovens weren't done), they sold beer. Once the ovens were done, beer, pizza, and live jazz flowed with much success. Shakey's was as known for its jazz as its pizza.  It was as much a "pub" as a "pizza parlor".  Johnson's original location operated as a Shakey's until a 1996 fire.  The trademark red Shakey's sign remained on the frontage until 2002 when it was taken down while members of the original jazz band to play there played tribute.  The sign was donated to a museum to be restored and displayed.

Johnson's chain grew to nearly 300 locations domestically when he retired in 1967 and sold it to what later became Great Western United Corp. A few ownership changes and a growth to over 450 locations happened before Inno-Pacific Holdings Ltd., a Singapore-based company, took over in 1980. The toilet has been flushing ever since.  

Shakey's went through over a dozen US corporate heads under Inno-Pacific's control.  In recent years, each new head came up with wild ideas to revitalize the chain. most of which were absurd and left franchisees shaking their heads in amazement.  In 2001, with another new President and grand plans to double the US presence, some franchisees were suing Shakey's to get out of franchise agreements.  Others were simply letting their agreements lapse.  

In 2002, Inno-Pacific Chairman Wong Chin-Yong took over US operations directly.  There wasn't much left in Singapore.  In October 2002, Shakey's Franchised Dealers Association met to vote to decline an amended franchise agreement Chin-Yong had apparently attempted to sell some franchisees on independent of the Association.  In December, Shakey's sent seventeen franchisees notice to "sign the enclosed 20-year extension to your agreement by December 16" or lose their franchise.  The franchisees responded with a lawsuit that, when attempted to serve at Shakey's headquarters, could not be because nobody was there.

Ultimately, the solution was to sell the chain to The Jacmar Companies, Shakey's largest franchisee.  Jacmar is a thriving real estate developer, food distributor, and restaurant operator.  Aside from their nineteen Shakey's stores, they operate Taco Bell and Long John Silvers franchises in Guam.  They're also the largest shareholder of Chicago Pizza & Brewery, a chain of about thirty restaurants that sound on paper similar to the various Rock Bottom Restaurants concepts (the "Old Chicago" guys).

The Shakey's you probably remember was your garden variety pizza restaurant, with what seemed like the mandatory details (in the seventies that was a Goth-like English Pub look with a fireplace, in the eighties it was a video game room) featuring Shakey's Pizza, chicken, a salad bar, and later, a full buffet.  Some newer Shakey's were  built AS a buffet.  The buffet layout seems to be the direction Shakey's was headed through the nineties.  

Shakey's pizza is a crunchy thin-crust similar to Round Table's, but not as sweet. A chewy hand-tossed crust is also available.  Shakey's is also known for their chicken and Mojo potatoes.  It's a good product that has simply been grossly mishandled.

If Jacmar can't save this brand, nobody can.

Recent history compiled from stories at pizzamarketplace.com

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