Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Fast food |
Founded | 1956 |
Founder | Pal Barger |
Headquarters | , |
Number of locations | 31 (as of April 2023) [1] |
Area served | East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia |
Products | |
Number of employees | 1100 (2024) [2] |
Website | palsweb |
Pal's Sudden Service, normally called Pal's for short, is a regional fast food restaurant chain located in northeast Tennessee and southwestern Virginia, with stores concentrated in the Tri-Cities, Tennessee metro region. [3] [4] The first Pal's opened in 1956 in Kingsport, Tennessee a year after the founder of Pal's, Fred "Pal" Barger, attended a National Restaurant Convention in Chicago and met Ray Kroc and Fred Turner, observing the construction and equipment they used for the first McDonald's restaurant. Pal's long time CEO is Thom Crosby who joined the company in 1981. [5] In 2023, the company had 31 locations. [6]
In 2001, Pal's won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, becoming the first restaurant company to receive the award. [7]
The organization is often studied by competition and used as a case study for Industrial/Organizational Psychologists. [8] This is per the company's unique organizational culture, with training that includes pop quizzes and over 200 hours of training for employees, which results in significantly low turnover for the industry.
Pal's drive-thrus are recognized by their novelty architecture in the form of large replicas of food items placed on the roof. Added in 1985, these were designed by California artists Karen and Tony Barone. [9] In addition to the novelty architecture, the buildings are typically painted a bright, cyan blue color, which adds to the visual distinction.
Greeneville is a town in and the county seat of Greene County, Tennessee, United States. The population as of the 2020 census was 15,479. The town was named in honor of Revolutionary War hero Nathanael Greene, and it is the second oldest town in Tennessee. It is the only town with this spelling in the United States, although there are numerous U.S. towns named Greenville. The town was the capital of the short-lived State of Franklin in the 18th-century history of East Tennessee.
Morristown is a city in and the county seat of Hamblen County, Tennessee, United States. Morristown also extends into Jefferson County on the western and southern ends. The city lies within the Ridge and Valley of the Appalachians. The city's population was recorded to be 30,431 at the 2020 United States census. It is the principal city of the Morristown Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Grainger, Hamblen, and Jefferson counties. The Morristown metropolitan area is also part of the Knoxville-Morristown-Sevierville Combined Statistical Area.
Kingsport is a city in Sullivan and Hawkins counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, its population was 55,442. Lying along the Holston River, Kingsport is commonly included in what is known as the Mountain Empire, which spans a portion of southwest Virginia and the mountainous counties in northeastern Tennessee. It is the largest city in the Kingsport–Bristol metropolitan area, which had a population of 307,614 in 2020. The metro area is a component of the larger Tri-Cities region of Tennessee and Virginia, with a population of 508,260 in 2020.
Captain Ds, LLC. is an American fast casual restaurant chain that specializes in seafood and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. The chain was founded as Mr. D's Seafood and Hamburgers by Raymond L. Danner Sr. on August 15, 1969, in Donelson, Tennessee. The chain is currently owned by private-equity firm Centre Partners. Captain D's has more than 500 locations in the United States.
Walters State Community College is a public community college based in Morristown, Tennessee. It was founded in 1970 and is operated by the Tennessee Board of Regents. The college was named in honor of former United States Senator Herbert S. Walters.
Bean Station is a town split between the counties of Grainger and Hawkins in Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,967. It is part of the Kingsport, Knoxville, and Morristown metropolitan statistical areas.
Food City is an American supermarket chain with stores located in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. It is owned by K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc., a privately held family and employee-owned corporation headquartered in Abingdon, Virginia. K-VA-T Food Stores owns the Food City Distribution Center, a distribution center K-VA-T helped form in 1974 and acquired full control of in 1998, Misty Mountain Spring Water, LLC, a producer of bottled water, as well as limited-assortment grocery stores named Super Dollar Food Center, Food City Express and Gas'N Go convenience stores, and Food City Wine and Spirits liquor stores. Many of their supermarkets have their own fuel stations, with the Gas'N Go branding.
Proffitt's was a department store chain based in Alcoa, Tennessee. The chain was founded in 1919 by David W. Proffitt and James Ellis. In 2006, the Proffitt's and McRae's stores were converted into Belk after Belk had acquired the two chains in July 2005 from Saks, Inc. At the time of their demise they operated 47 Proffitts & McRae's stores.
WCYB-TV is a television station licensed to Bristol, Virginia, United States, serving the Tri-Cities area as an affiliate of NBC and The CW. It is one of two commercial television stations in the market that are licensed in Virginia. WCYB-TV is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which also provides certain services to Greeneville, Tennessee–licensed Fox affiliate WEMT under a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Cunningham Broadcasting. However, Sinclair effectively owns WEMT as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith. The two stations share studios on Lee Street on the Virginia side of Bristol ; WCYB-TV's transmitter is located at Rye Patch Knob on Holston Mountain in the Cherokee National Forest.
Weigel's is a convenience store chain based in Powell, Tennessee with 68 locations in the East Tennessee region. They also own and operate Broadacre Dairy Inc, which processes milk, tea, juices, and eggnog for their convenience stores, as well as its own bakery, Red Barn Foods.
U.S. Route 11E (US 11E) is a divided highway of US 11 in the U.S. states of Tennessee and Virginia. The United States Numbered Highway, which is complemented by US 11W to the north and west, runs 120.94 miles (194.63 km) from US 11, US 11W, and US 70 in Knoxville, Tennessee, north and east to US 11, US 11W, US 19, and US 421 in Bristol, Virginia. US 11E connects Knoxville and the twin cities of Bristol, Virginia, and Bristol, Tennessee, with the East Tennessee communities of Morristown, Greeneville, and Johnson City. The U.S. Highway runs concurrently with US 70 and US 25W east of Knoxville, US 321 from Greeneville and Johnson City, and both US 19W and US 19 between Johnson City and Bristol. US 11E also has an unsigned concurrency with State Route 34 (SR 34) for almost all of its course in Tennessee.
WEMT is a television station licensed to Greeneville, Tennessee, United States, serving as the Fox affiliate for the Tri-Cities area. It is owned by Cunningham Broadcasting, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of Bristol, Virginia–licensed dual NBC/CW affiliate WCYB-TV, for the provision of certain services. However, Sinclair effectively owns WEMT; the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith. The two stations share studios on Lee Street on the Virginia side of Bristol ; WEMT's transmitter is located at Rye Patch Knob on Holston Mountain in the Cherokee National Forest.
Frisch's Restaurants, Inc., doing business as Frisch's Big Boy, is a regional Big Boy restaurant chain with headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. For many years a Big Boy franchisee, in 2001, Frisch's became the exclusive owner of the Big Boy trademark in Indiana, Kentucky, and most of Ohio and Tennessee, and is no longer affiliated with Big Boy Restaurant Group. As of April 2024, the company operates 85 locations in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. This included multiple Big Boy stores in Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio. Frisch's is the oldest, longest surviving, and largest regional Big Boy operator, excluding Bob's Big Boy in California, which was the original Big Boy restaurant and franchiser. The last new Frisch's opened in Dry Ridge Kentucky in 2019, therefore 8 stores reopening from COVID-19 around 2022-2023. Many stores closed afterwards, likely due to rising supply chain costs and restaurant demand changes, as well as shifting customer demand away from "diner" restaurants.
Area code 423 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan for the U.S. state of Tennessee. It comprises two disconnected areas of East Tennessee that are separated by area code 865.
Interstate 81 (I-81) is part of the Interstate Highway System that runs 855.02 miles (1,376.02 km) northward from Dandridge, Tennessee, to the Thousand Islands Bridge at the Canadian border near Fishers Landing, New York. In Tennessee, I-81 serves the northeastern part of the state, running 75.66 miles (121.76 km) from its southern terminus with I-40 in Dandridge to the Virginia state line in Bristol. The route serves the Tri-Cities region of the state and the eastern parts of the Knoxville metropolitan area, terminating about 35 miles (56 km) east of Knoxville. I-81 bypasses most cities that it serves, instead providing access via interchanges with state and federal routes. It remains in the Ridge-and-Valley topographic region of the Appalachian Mountains for its entire length in Tennessee, and runs in a northeast to southwest direction.
U.S. Route 11 (US 11) in the U.S. state of Tennessee travels from the Georgia state line in Chattanooga to Knoxville, where it then splits into US 11E and US 11W. These two highways then travel to the Virginia state line near Kingsport and Bristol. During its length, it shares concurrencies with State Route 2 (SR 2) and SR 38.
The Music of East Tennessee has a rich history, and played a major role in the development of modern country and bluegrass music. Bristol, known as "the birthplace of country music",, and Johnson City, notable for the Johnson City recording sessions, are both towns in the Tri-Cities region of East Tennessee. The music of East Tennessee is defined by country, gospel, and bluegrass artists, and has roots in Appalachian folk music.
Ballad Health is a chain of hospitals headquartered in Johnson City, Tennessee. It includes facilities in Tennessee and Virginia. Some of its locations are also urgent care centers and primary care locations. They operate a blood bank, named Marsh Regional Blood Center.
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