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Red Robin history
Red Robin company history timeline
1969: Gerald Kingen opens the first Red Robin restaurant in Seattle, Washington.
In 1969, local Seattle restaurant entrepreneur Gerry Kingen bought the restaurant and expanded it.
Diners chose from items such as popcorn and wrapped sandwiches until 1973, when burgers topped with cheese, bacon or even a fried egg made their debut.
In 1979, Kingen sold Michael and Steve Snyder the rights to open a Red Robin in Yakima, Washington and The Snyder Group Company became Red Robin's first franchisee.
In 1980, Red Robin opened a restaurant in Portland, Oregon.
In 1983, Red Robin adopted a mascot named Red.
In 1985, Red Robin boasted 175 restaurants when the corporate headquarters was moved from downtown Seattle to Irvine, California after CEO Kingen sold a controlling interest in Red Robin Corp. to Skylark Corporation of Japan and where Michael Snyder had Red Robin offices.
Diners have been treated to never-ending fries, with the purchase of any of their 24 burgers, at all Red Robin locations since 1994.
1996: Snyder is appointed company president.
In May 1997, Snyder was elected as chairman of the board.
In 2000, Red Robin merged with the Snyder Group, and Snyder became president, chairman and CEO of the merged company.
In 2000, the company opened its 150th restaurant.
In August 2001, the reorganization was completed, a process that entailed all the outstanding capital stock being ceded to Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc.
With fewer than 200 restaurants in the months leading up to the IPO, the company would need all the capital it could secure considering that in 2001 it cost $1.7 million to build a new Red Robin unit.
The first Red Robin in the Chicago area opened in 2001 at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois.
To augment this infusion of capital, the company also entered into a three-year, $40 million revolving credit agreement in July 2002.
In July 2002, the company opened two new restaurants, one in Fenton, Missouri, and another in Toledo, Ohio, increasing its presence in the Midwest to 27 restaurants.
By 2002, the price of the company's signature burgers stood at $7, which was considered to be the plateau for burgers.
Snyder took the company public in 2002.
Expansion continued in 2003, building on the 193 units in operation in January 2003.
In March 2003, when the first unit in San Antonio opened, the company opened a restaurant in Columbia, Maryland, its fifth unit in the state.
The month also included the signing of another important franchise partner, Dallas, Texas-based Mandes Restaurant Group, LLC. Under the terms of the agreement with Mandes, eight new restaurants were slated for construction in the greater Dallas metropolitan market by 2008.
The tavern that launched the national chain served its last burger in March 2010 after the cost of maintaining the 90-year-old building became too high.
The first Burger Works location opened in Denver in 2011, and the concept has since been expanded to four Colorado locations, plus ones in Chicago and Washington, D.C. Diners are still able to chow down on Red Robin burgers, but off a simpler and lower priced menu in a more fast-casual setting.
Since 2012, the company has raised and donated more than $1 million.
There were talks of opening a new restaurant in the same location, but the building was demolished in 2014.
As of fiscal year 2015, the company had 538 restaurants with a revenue of US$1.25 billion.
On December 2, 2018, Michael Snyder died by suicide.
In October 2019, the company announced plans to close its five locations in Alberta, Canada, by early December.
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Red Robin competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TGI Fridays | 1965 | $630,000 | 5,000 | 2 |
| Texas Roadhouse | 1993 | $5.4B | 64,900 | 3,633 |
| Outback Steakhouse | 1988 | $4.1B | 15,680 | 389 |
| Red Lobster | 1968 | $2.6B | 55,000 | 2,129 |
| IHOP | 1958 | $349.6M | 32,300 | 1,590 |
| Chili's Grill & Bar | 1975 | $4.4B | 13,000 | 139 |
| Applebee's Canada | 1980 | $2.5B | 28,000 | 1,391 |
| Denny's | 1953 | $452.3M | 3,100 | 1,522 |
| Ruby Tuesday | 1972 | $952.0M | 32,100 | 8 |
| Bob Evans Restaurants | 1953 | $384.9M | 30,625 | - |
Red Robin history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Red Robin, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Red Robin. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Red Robin. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Red Robin. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Red Robin and its employees or that of Zippia.
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