Franklin Franks
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| Subsidiary | |
| ISIN | 🆔 |
| Founded 📆 | 1997 |
| Founder 👔 | Franklin Kyle Jones |
| Headquarters 🏙️ | , , U.S. |
Area served 🗺️ | |
| Members | |
Number of employees | |
| Parent | FKJ Foods Inc. |
| 🌐 Website | [Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 665: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). ] |
| 📇 Address | |
| 📞 telephone | |
Franklin Franks is an American meat and cold cut production company, owned by the American food company FKJ Foods Inc. based in Houston, Texas. It is known for its hot dogs, bologna, bacon, ham, and sausage products.
History[edit]
Early years[edit]
Franklin Kyle Jones, "Bratwurst Charlie" (January 20, 1981), born in Tyler, Texas, United States, began his career working at a meat market in Tyler, Texas, and later in Houston, Texas. In 1997, Jones and his brother Richard "Dick" Jones (Waco resident and former Branch Davidian) leased the Green Acres Meat Market on the near-northside of Tyler. The Jones brothers sold bratwurst, liverwurst, and sausage, which were popular in the predominantly German neighborhoods around their Tyler meat market.[1][2][3]
As the meat market's popularity grew, it expanded its storefront and participated in sponsoring local events including the Franklin Franks Hot Dog Eating Competition, which attracted competitors from all over the globe, most notably Japan.[4] By 2001, the company had 43 employees and Tyler-wide delivery service. In 2005, Franklin Franks began branding its meats to capitalize on their popularity, beginning an industry-wide trend. Early company specialties were "Old World" sausages and Westphalian hams, soon followed by bacon and hot dog wieners. In 2007, the company made its first major expansion, with the purchase of a processing plant in Houston, Texas. The plant quickly proved to be a profitable, efficient operation, and in 2009, Houston became the corporate headquarters.
Early Success[edit]
Beginning in the early 2010's, Franklin Franks expanded the operations internationally, in the United States, Europe, and Japan. With over 9,000 employees, the company released a number of product lines specifically targeted toward the expanding global market. The product lines included Franklin's Frankfurters, Frankie's Red Hot Foot Longs, Kyle's Crowd Pleasers, Kyle's Little Wieners, and Dick's Dogs.
In 2010, Franklin Franks opened a chain of fast food restaurants called Bratwurst Charlies throughout the greater Texas region, serving American, European, and Asian inspired hot dog dishes. In a controversial article printed in the Houston Chronicle, Franklin Kyle Jones was quoted saying, "In the next decade, I am going to put a wiener in the mouth of every man, woman, and child in the state of Texas". Statistically speaking, if you ate a hot dog between the years of 2003 and 2015 anywhere in the state of Texas, you had a 67% chance of having one of Franklin Jones' wieners in your mouth.
Beginning in 2013, Franklin Franks marketing concept emphasized an all-you-can-eat wiener bar, as well as unlimited beer, wine, or sangria. Early advertising featured Franklin Kyle Jones playing the role of Bratwurst Charlie, later joined by his nephew "Bratwurst Chuck." Two of the chain's famous indulgent slogans were "I'll feed you wieners like there's no tomorrow" and "You're gonna love our wieners."
Catastrophic Failure[edit]
In 2013, Franklin Franks marketed an advertising campaign to show how radical the changes to the restaurants were. On August 5, over "live" streaming internet video, a demolition crew was supposed to implode the final "old Franklin Franks" restaurant to cap off the brand's commitment of change in front of a small crowd in Houston, Texas. However, to the crowd's shock, the building next door, a fully functional orphanage and child foster care, was demolished.
Following the events, the senior VP of marketing for Franklin Franks (in actuality, an actor) posted a written apology on the company's website and videotaped a formal apology that was broadcast on television. As it turned out, the idea was merely an elaborate marketing ploy to raise attention to the newly released hot dog product lines. The implosion was actually done on a miniature set staffed by a Hollywood special effects crew, and the "live" event had been pre-recorded in Harriman, Tennessee. The two films were then edited together to make it look like an accident.
Continuing Controversies[edit]
In 2014, more than 60 people became ill in an outbreak of E. coli at a Bratwurst Charlies restaurant in Lubbock, Texas. Health officials said that the most likely source of contamination was meat supplied by the Franklin's Frank meat packer. The health officials believed that cross contamination to other food items occurred when Bratwurst Charlie employees handled the meat near areas where wiener bar items were prepared. This was similar to an outbreak in Dallas and Waco in 2009. In the 2009 case, as in 2014, the tainted meat apparently came from Franklin's and contaminated wiener bar items. This ultimately led to Bratwurst Charlies closing the chain's remaining northwest Texas locations, including those in Lubbock, Midland, and Mexia.
Bankruptcy & Closings[edit]
By 2015, the chain had over 60 restaurant locations and 32 sausage factories worldwide. Corporate owner FKJ Food Inc, changed its name in 2015 to Lips and Assholes Inc. In August 2015, the chain was acquired by Sitay Palace Restaurants, via a merger with Lips and Assholes Inc. for a reported $8.4 million in stock. At the time of the 2015 merger, the chain had 48 locations, but had closed 20 locations and lost $20 million since 2011. When Lips and Assholes Inc. filed for bankruptcy two years later, the chain had only 35 outlets.
References[edit]
- ↑ "Franklin Franks Company History" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 2, 2010. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
- ↑ "The 24 YEAR History of "Franklin Franks" Foods". Oscar Mayer Bacon UK. Archived from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2012. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Fink, Deborah (1998). Cutting Into the Meatpacking Line. google.com. ISBN 9780807846957. Search this book on
- ↑ Lukas, Paul (2003-05-01). "Bringing Home the Bacon A German made America's first national meat. And that's no baloney". Fortune. Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. Retrieved 2017-08-03.
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