Sonic-HOUSTON Vlp history

By 1953 he had moved his focus to the drive-in, which was named Top Hat, and the business that would become Sonic was born.

When driving through Shawnee in 1956, he came across the Top Hat drive-in and was impressed.

By 1958 two more Top Hats opened, in Enid and Stillwater, Oklahoma.

1959: The 'Sonic' name is introduced.

The group was credited with introducing the ice cream concept to the Sonic system after proving it at its own restaurants. Its founder, Don Rogers, an Oklahoma oilman, had opened his first Sonic Drive-In in 1962.

By 1967—the year that Charlie Pappe passed away—there were 41 Sonics in operation.

Franchises appeared in Texas and Kansas, and, by 1972, there were 165 Sonic Drive-ins.

1973: Sonic becomes Sonic Systems of America and begins trading OTC.

By 1979 profits began to fall nonetheless.

1983: New CEO Stephen Lynn sets out to unify the franchises.

1991: Sonic begins trading publicly again.

In 1993, Sonic's market value was estimated at $200 million.

In 1994, after more than a year of often bitter talks with franchisees, Sonic renegotiated its franchising contracts.

Average per-store sales were around $585,000 per year in 1995.

Sonic's equipment sales unit was sold off to Columbus, Ohio-based N. Wasserstrom & Sons, Inc. in February 1996.

Sonic Corp.'s revenues rose 18 percent in 1999 to $257.6 million.