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At
the Beginning |
Having
served during WW I in the storied Yankee Division,
Howard D. Johnson returned home to take up his cigar
business where he had left off. However times had
changed and Johnson became deeply indebted. Forced
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abandon the once lucrative cigar business, he went to
work at the Walker-Barlow Drug Store. The store was
primarily a newsstand and was located in Wollaston,
Massachusetts. Not long after the 27 year old Johnson
started work, the store's owner unexpectedly died. The
proprietor's heirs agreed after some debate to allow
Howard to take over, and to loan him $2,000 to get him
started. In addition, he put up $500 which he had to
scrape together from his mother and sisters. Thus began
the world's greatest hospitality empire in December
of 1925 with its inexperienced owner more than $42,000
in debt! |
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| Malboro
never opened |
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-I-495
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| Seekonk
(Providence East) |
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Fall River |
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Lodging:
HoJo's highway hotel |
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| Superlodge |
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| Westborough |
| -5
Turnpike Rd |
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Introduced
in 1983, the Superlodge concept was a late attempt by
the Howard Johnson Company to reinvent its accommodation
offerings. Each Superlodge was to feature between 150
and 250 guest rooms in six story structures. The idea
was to focus on a broader based clientele with a special
emphasis on business customers. Designed for suburban,
urban, and airport locations, planned amenities included
expanded meeting room facilities, room service, cocktail
lounges, restaurants, exercise rooms, and indoor swimming
pools. The First and perhaps only Superlodge was the
unit built in Westborough which was well sited adjacent
to a "technology hub." |
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Commissaries:
production, warehouse, and distribution |
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| Boston |
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| Brockton |
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| Quincy |
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| Wollaston |
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Not
created until late in 1965, the Landmark Supply Division
was a natural outgrowth of the Howard Johnson Company.
Landmark facilitated substantial cost savings, streamlined
procurement of restaurant equipment and motor lodge
furnishings while further establishing standardization
and promoted Howard Johnson's quality image. The division
worked closely with the Company's architecture and design
department to ensure tight integration and enforcement
of Howard Johnson's high standards. After Marriott's
purchase and subsequent breakup of Howard Johnson's,
Landmark became a part of Prime Motor Inns and was relocated
to New Jersey. Landmark was spun off and eventually
had a falling out with HFS/Blackstone/Cendant (Prime's
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| Vending |
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| Automated
Merchandising |
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| All
Seasons Vending |
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Introduced
in 1966, the Automated Merchandising Division traced
its origins back to at least the early 1950s. The division
oversaw vending services. Most of its vending machines
were placed in high volume Motor Lodges and at highway
service plazas. Howard Johnson's expanded its vending
operations by purchasing several vending companies throughout
the United States. Later the division was renamed All
Seasons Vending and serviced thousands of machines along
toll roads and supplied services to dozens of large
commercial, industrial, and institutional clients. |
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Restaurants:
concepts, prototypes, and experiments |
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Following
in the trend of Restaurant renovations started in the
middle 1970s where earth tones, butcher block table
and counter tops, as well as octagonal salad bars replaced
traditional decor, the New Edition concept was an attempt
"to add a new dimension" to Howard Johnson's
restaurants. Woburn was converted in 1977 and was among
the first four prototypes. Tweaking the Orange Roofs
into New Editions was said to make them more upscale
and menus were revamped to include more fresh food items
with special emphasis on salads of all types. The Company
decided that all new Orange Roofs would be New Editions,
but soon backed off its position and the concept was
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The
Howard Johnson's Today concept was supposed to reinvent
traditional Orange Roofed Restaurants. Somerset was
converted as the prototype and opened June 4, 1984.
The theme was "everything's new at Howard Johnson's."
The restaurant's Orange Roof became a drab and dull
gray and its diary bar was replaced with a take-out
counter. Menu items became a blend of traditional
fare and contemporary choices. Ironically even as
the Orange Roof, the best symbol of Howard Johnson's,
was eliminated, Simple Simon and the Pieman iconography
was reintroduced.
In
conjunction with the HJ Today & Deli•Baker•Ice
Cream Maker concepts, "cone-struc-tion"
was devised. First tested at Seekonk and the Orange
Roof at Medford, the innovative idea was introduced
at twenty locations in 1985. In each restaurant an
ice cream display case holding Howard Johnson's many
flavors of ice cream and "cone-diments"
such as candy bars, cookies, nuts, raisins, etc. could
be added together to create clever new taste concoctions.
Then the creation of ice cream and cone-diments was
added to a freshly made waffle cone resulting in the
cone-struc-tion!
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| Deli•Baker• |
| Ice
Cream Maker |
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