Zesto Drive-In

Last updated

Zesto Drive-In
Company typePrivate
IndustryFood
Founded1945;80 years ago (1945)
ProductsFast food, including hamburgers, french fries, ice cream, banana splits, and homemade/ hand blended milkshakes

Zesto is a licensed trademark owned by TJ Group Investments, LLC and currently used by a significant amount of independently owned restaurants and independent franchise chains who sublicense the trademark to franchise owners. Until 1955, Zesto Drive-In was a chain of drive-in restaurants franchised by Taylor Freezer Corp. (now the Taylor Company), featuring ice cream and frozen custard. They are recognized for their ice cream favorites such as avalanches, milkshakes, sundaes and ice cream sodas, to name a few. [1]

Contents

History

Zesto in Bogalusa, Louisiana, 1983 ZestoChicken57cents.jpg
Zesto in Bogalusa, Louisiana, 1983

Zesto was started by entrepreneur and inventor L.A.M. Phelan as a national franchise chain. Phelan was head of the Taylor Freezer Corp., which in 1945 had developed the "Zest-O-Mat" frozen custard machine, and franchise agreements granted exclusive use of the Zest-O-Mat machines in a given territory under the Zesto name. [2] The first known Zesto Drive-In was opened in Jefferson City, Missouri, in 1948 at the foot of St. Mary’s Hospital on Missouri Boulevard [3] by its original franchise owner, Lottie Traubtz; [4] dozens more opened in the late 1940s and early 1950s, mostly in the Midwestern states.

Taylor Freezer, reportedly growing frustrated with managing a retail business and dealing with unhappy franchisees, abandoned the Zesto concept in 1955 and left the remaining franchisees to fend for themselves. [5] While some former franchisees continued to operate under different names, others retained the Zesto name, operating independently of each other and without support from a governing franchise structure.

The Zesto trademark was first registered in 1985 by Zesto Inc., a Missouri corporation owned by Harold Brown, who purchased and operated the first known Zesto in Jefferson City, Missouri in 1973. The trademark currently belongs to Todd B. Jansa of TJ Group Investments LLC located in Wahoo, Nebraska, who grants exclusive rights to use the Zesto name by territory. [6]

Zesto in Pierre, South Dakota, 2007 Zesto ice cream in Pierre.JPG
Zesto in Pierre, South Dakota, 2007

Current locations

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Dreaming of More at Zesto Drive-In". HER Magazine. July 10, 2017. Archived from the original on March 26, 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  2. ↑ Court of Civil Appeals of Texas (May 20, 1953). "Patrini v. McAninch". Findacase.com. Archived from the original on March 31, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Dreaming of More at Zesto Drive-In". HER Magazine. July 10, 2017. Archived from the original on March 26, 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Zesto's History". Zestodrivein.com. Archived from the original on March 31, 2012. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
  5. ↑ "About Zesto Atlanta". Archived from the original on January 28, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
  6. ↑ "ZESTO - Trademark Details". Justia.
  7. ↑ "Zesto Chapin Facebook Post". Facebook. May 2, 2024. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
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