Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Restaurant |
Headquarters | United States |
Hen House Interstate, Inc. was a Chesterfield, Missouri-based company that owned and operated a chain of restaurants that at one time had up to 40 locations on the American Interstate highway system throughout Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Kansas. [1] The chain was known for its open menu concept, which allowed patrons to order any kind of food at any time of the day, such as eggs and pancakes at dinnertime and hamburgers and fried chicken in the morning, [1] and for the distinctive design of its buildings, the exteriors of which resembled hay barns. [2]
In 1981, the Decatur Herald and Review reported the company was expected to expand from 26 locations to 40 and that company-wide sales had increased between 13 and 14 percent that year. [2] The company's business operations involved hiring restaurant managers from the community in which each restaurant was opened and emphasized friendly service and engagement with the local community. [2] The company also followed an awards system in which top managers, employees and restaurants received awards for excellence in areas such as best quality control [3] and largest individual restaurant increase in sales. [4] Awards given to recipients included company-paid vacations in luxury hotels. [4]
In 1982 the company reported intentions to build large truck stop locations, with fuel and related services. [5]
In 1991, during a major recession, Hen House Interstate, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. [6] During proceedings, the company was lent an additional $300,000 by their primary lender to fund continuing operations and to pay down debt. The company further obtained workers compensation insurance from Hartford Underwriters, but failed to make payments on the policy despite the insurer continuing to cover them. The reorganization failed and in 1993, the bankruptcy court converted the Chapter 11 filing to a Chapter 7 liquidation. At this time Hartford was owed over $50,000 in unpaid premiums and upon finally learning of the bankruptcy proceedings, attempted to collect the premiums from the company's lender via the bankruptcy court as administrative fees. [6] The court ruled in favor of Hartford, however appeals eventually reached the United States Supreme Court, who in 1999, upheld a prior appeal decision in favor of the lender, with the court's opinion read by Antonin Scalia. This decision would go on to influence debtor-in-possession caselaw. [7]
Though the parent company was liquidated, individual privately owned Hen House locations still exist, primarily in Illinois and Missouri. [8]
Two Hen House locations remain in Illinois, in Arcola and Pontoon Beach. The Mahomet, Illinois Hen House closed on October 1, 2023.
Interstate 72 (I-72) is an Interstate Highway in the midwestern United States. Its western terminus is in Hannibal, Missouri, at an intersection with U.S. Route 61 (US 61); its eastern terminus is at Country Fair Drive in Champaign, Illinois. The route runs through the major cities of Decatur, Illinois, and Springfield, Illinois. In 2006, the Illinois General Assembly dedicated all of I-72 as Purple Heart Memorial Highway. The stretch between Springfield and Decatur is also called Penny Severns Memorial Expressway, and the section between mile 35 and the Mississippi River is known as the Free Frank McWorter Historic Highway.
Perkins LLC is an American casual dining restaurant chain that serves breakfast and other homestyle meals throughout the day in addition to bakery items such as pies, muffins and other sweets. As of February 2024, the company operates 266 locations in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
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.
Happy Joe's is an American pizza parlor chain based in Bettendorf, Iowa. The restaurant chain was founded in 1972 by Lawrence Joseph "Happy Joe" Whitty, a former Shakey's Pizza manager. Their United States locations are spread out across the Upper Midwest and Florida, with a location in Egypt, which opened in October 2022. In 2022, Happy Joe's has declared an intent over 10 years to open at least 25 locations across the Middle East and North Africa, including in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. The idea for Happy Joe's came from a combination of a pizza parlor and ice cream palace.
Goodrich Theater NewCo, LLC. is a chain of 22 movie theaters, headquartered in Grand Rapids, MI, representing a total of 174 screens in the United States. The majority of GQT Movies' locations are in Michigan, but other locations could be found in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Alabama, and Pennsylvania. The company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection in February 2020. All employees were terminated March 19, 2020 without notice largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as many movie theaters were closed by government order in many states. In last July 2020, the company began reopening some of their locations. By the end of the year it had reopened its 22 locations.
Interstate 270 (I-270) makes up a large portion of the outer belt freeway in Greater St. Louis. The counterclockwise terminus of I-270 is at the junction with I-55 and I-255 in Mehlville, Missouri; the clockwise terminus of the freeway is at the junction with I-55 and I-70 north of Troy, Illinois. The entire stretch of I-270 is 50.59 miles (81.42 km).
The Illinois Terminal Railroad Company, known as the Illinois Traction System until 1937, was a heavy duty interurban electric railroad with extensive passenger and freight business in central and southern Illinois from 1896 to 1956. When Depression era Illinois Traction was in financial distress and had to reorganize, the Illinois Terminal name was adopted to reflect the line's primary money making role as a freight interchange link to major steam railroads at its terminal ends, Peoria, Danville, and St. Louis. Interurban passenger service slowly was reduced, ending in 1956. Freight operation continued but was hobbled by tight street running in some towns requiring very sharp radius turns. In 1956, ITC was absorbed by a consortium of connecting railroads.
The Belleville News-Democrat is a daily newspaper in Belleville, Illinois. Focusing on news that is local to the area of southwestern Illinois, it has been published under various names for 150 years. As of 2009, it is published by The McClatchy Company, and is based in St. Clair County, Illinois. It publishes content in print as well as online at bnd.com.
James Gleason Dunn Conzelman was an American football player and coach, baseball executive, and advertising executive. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1964 and was selected in 1969 as a quarterback on the National Football League 1920s All-Decade Team.
The St. Louis Globe-Democrat was a daily print newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1852 until 1986. The paper began operations on July 1, 1852, as The Daily Missouri Democrat, changing its name to The Missouri Democrat in 1868, then to The St. Louis Democrat in 1873. It merged with the St. Louis Globe to form the St. Louis Globe-Democrat in 1875.
G. Fox & Co. was a large department store that originated in Hartford, Connecticut. It was the largest privately held department store in the nation when it was sold in 1965 to the May Department Stores Company. In 1993, May Department stores phased out the G. Fox & Co. brand, converting them into the Boston-based department store Filene's. In 2005, the May Company merged with Federated Department Stores which converted the store and several other regional chains to Macy's.
Red Lion Beef Corporation, doing business as Lion's Choice, is an American fast food restaurant chain based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving roast beef sandwiches and other menu items. The company was founded in 1952 and opened its first restaurant in Ballwin, Missouri, on October 26, 1967, which remains open today. As of May 2021, there are 62 Lion's Choice restaurants in St. Louis and Kansas City.
Theodore Hoskins, also referred to as Ted Hoskins, is an American politician with the Democratic Party. He was a member of the Missouri House of Representatives and has been mayor of Berkeley, Missouri since his election in 2012. Hoskins was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and raised in Berkeley, Missouri. He served in the United States Air Force from 1956 to 1961, and left with an honorable discharge. He received education in business administration at Florissant Valley Community College, where he obtained an associate's degree, and at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He is married with three children, and resides in Berkeley, Missouri. Hoskins has worked in a financial capacity with Bi-State Development Agency, and is owner and CEO of T & L Automated Accounting Services.
The Herald & Review is a daily newspaper based in Decatur, Illinois. It is owned by Lee Enterprises.
SPB Hospitality is a multi-brand restaurant operator headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company owns several casual dining restaurant chain brands, including Logan's Roadhouse, Old Chicago Pizza + Taproom, J. Alexander's, Stoney River Steak House, Krystal Restaurants, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants, and Rock Bottom Restaurants Breweries. As of November 2019, CraftWorks owned and operated over 390 restaurants in the United States, but all of its owned-and-operated locations closed by March 2020, after a Chapter 11 bankruptcy followed immediately by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, and CraftWorks and terminated its 18,000 employees, leaving fewer than 25 employed. On June 12, 2020, SPB Hospitality purchased Craftworks businesses out of bankruptcy for $93 million.
The 1919 Decatur Staleys season was the first in the team's long existence, later becoming known as the Chicago Bears. It was also the only season in which the Staleys/Bears were an amateur team, not a member of the National Football League or managed by George Halas. The 1919 Staleys were a works team, made up purely of regular A. E. Staley Manufacturing Company employees, and finished with a 6–1 record to win the Central Illinois Championship.
The 1914 Saint Louis Billikens football team was an American football team that represented Saint Louis University as an independent during the 1914 college football season. In their first season under head coach George Keogan, the Billikens compiled a record of 4–4. The team played home game at the Saint Louis University campus in St. Louis.
The 1953 Southern Illinois Salukis football team was an American football team that represented Southern Illinois University in the Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) during the 1953 college football season. Under second-year head coach William O'Brien, the team compiled a 2–7 record. The team played its home games at McAndrew Stadium in Carbondale, Illinois.
The 1955 Southern Illinois Salukis football team was an American football team that represented Southern Illinois University in the Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) during the 1955 college football season. Under first-year head coach Albert Kawal, the team compiled a 4–4–2 record. The team played its home games at McAndrew Stadium in Carbondale, Illinois.
The 1953 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team represented Western Illinois University as a member of the Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) during the 1953 college football season. They were led by fifth-year head coach Vince DiFrancesca and played their home games at Hanson Field. The Leathernecks finished the season with a 8–2 record overall and a 5–1 record in conference play, placing second in the IIAC. They were invited to the postseason Corn Bowl, where they defeated Iowa Wesleyan 32–0.