Boston Market Corporation, known as Boston Chicken until 1995, is an American fast casual restaurant chain headquartered in Golden, Colorado. Since 2020, it has been owned by the Rohan Group.
Boston Market has its greatest presence in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States, but also has a large presence in California, Florida, and Texas. As of November2020[update], the chain had approximately 346 company-owned restaurant locations in 28 states and Puerto Rico,[1] with 14,000 employees. Frozen meals and side dishes are sold nationally under the Boston Market brand name.
History
Boston Chicken was founded by Steven Kolow and Arthur Cores in 1985 in Newton, a suburb of Boston. The chain expanded rapidly in the early and mid-1990s.
When it was known as Boston Chicken, restaurants specialized in rotisserie chicken and a variety of side dishes, but in February 1995, the chain expanded its menu to include turkey, meatloaf, and ham and changed the name to Boston Market[3] in fall 1995 to reflect this.
In 1995, Boston Chicken created the Einstein Bros. Bagels chain of bakery cafés, after acquiring several smaller chains of bagel-centric bakeries.
In 1996, the chain launched a line of sandwiches known as "Boston Carver Sandwiches" that feature chicken, turkey, ham, and meatloaf; in 1997, due to the success of the new line, the "Extreme Carver" sandwiches were launched, filled with more portions of the above meats and more cheese than the originals. The corporate name remained "Boston Chicken, Inc." until 1997, when it became so popular with the new name, the corporate name was changed to "Boston Market Corporation."
The company raised a lot of debt to finance its expansion.[4] The rapid expansion allowed the company to create a steady stream of revenue from one-time development fees and increasing royalties, but also raised interest rates on its development loans. In 1998, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[5]
Since April 1999, a selection of Boston Market-branded items have been available in many supermarkets across the United States.
Boston Market was purchased by McDonald's Corporation in May 2000. McDonald's purchased the company for its real estate, but found the brand serviceable and therefore continued to operate and expand.
In the early 2000s, Boston Market operated two locations in Toronto, Ontario. In early 2002, Boston Market entered the Australian market, opening nine stores in the Sydney metropolitan area by 2004, before converting some stores to McDonald's and quietly exiting the Australian market later that year due to competitive pressures.
In April 2004, Boston Market introduced chilled menu items to be sold at supermarkets. In December 2005, these chilled menu items were available in 700 supermarkets.
In 2005, Boston Market also started offering limited-time offers, such as Crispy Country Chicken, an oven-baked chicken breast with gravy.
In 2007, McDonald's announced that it was "exploring strategic options" for the subsidiary.[6] On August 6, 2007, McDonald's announced plans to sell the chain to Sun Capital Partners,[7] a transaction that was completed on August 27, 2007.[8]
In April 2018, Boston Market announced that it was expanding its menu to offer rotisserie prime rib nationwide, three days a week.[9]
In April 2020, Sun Capital Partners sold Boston Market to Engage Brands, LLC, a company of Rohan Group, owned by Jignesh "Jay" Pandya.[10]
On January 10, 2024, the company announced that it would allow anyone to open a Boston Market franchise without the usual franchise fees or other buy-in requirements.[11]
Trademark dispute and grocery brand
In 2002, Boston Pizza commenced a lawsuit against Boston Market in the Federal Court of Canada over the trademark use of the word "Boston" in Canada.[12] In its defense, Boston Market alleged that Boston Pizza's trademarks were invalid because it described a style of pizza from a specific area.[13] The dispute continued after Boston Market ceased operations in Canada in 2004. The parties settled the dispute in 2008 under an agreement that Boston Market would not use the words "Boston" or "Boston Market" in Canada for five years for restaurants or any food or drink products (other than pre-packaged food products, but not including pizza and lasagna). Boston Market also agreed that it will not challenge Boston Pizza's use in Canada of any trademark that uses the words "Boston" or "Boston Pizza" (with certain exceptions).[14]
Financial problems of 2023-2024
On July 3, 2023, a complaint in court was filed stating the Danbury, Connecticut Boston Market owed in excess of $61,000 in unpaid rent and connected charges. A ruling in the landlord’s favor July 28, 2023 led to an eviction.[15]
On July 25, 2023, US Foods sued Boston Market for $11.3 million, accusing the company of owing them over $10 million for food distributed over several prior years.[16]
On August 14, 2023, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workplace Development gave a Stop-Work Order at 27 of the 31 Boston Market stores in New Jersey over multiple violations of workers rights, including owed backpay of up to $607,471 from up to 314 employees. An investigation on the matter began in November 2022 when an employee in Mercer County filed a complaint.[17]
In September 2023, investigative journalists of Restaurant Business Magazine revealed Pandya has over 200 lawsuits against him related to unpaid wages of employees, unpaid suppliers, and other violations related to his restaurants. The report described Pandya's ownership of Boston Market as "chaotic".[18]
In November 2023, the company failed to pay workers in Massachusetts.[19]
On November 14, 2023, all Detroit-area Boston Market locations were permanently shuttered and were handed eviction notices due to unpaid rent.[20] On November 20, 2023, all 9 remaining Connecticut Boston Market locations, located in East Haven, East Hartford, Meriden, West Hartford, Wilton, Stratford, Milford, Bristol, and Newington, were all permanently shuttered and handed eviction notices due to unpaid rent.[21] As a result of rising eviction notices and unpaid rent, Boston Market and owner Pandya filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2023.[22][23]
On January 11, 2024, Boston Market's bankruptcy case was dismissed after being unresponsive to court requests.[24] On February 1, 2024, US Foods won its lawsuit against Boston Market, with federal judge Manish Shah claiming that Boston Market's defenses in the lawsuit were “gossamer”.[25] On February 12, 2024, shortly after getting their second bankruptcy dismissed, Boston Market filed for bankruptcy for the 3rd time after losing their lawsuit against US Foods.[26]
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