Rax Roast Beef is a regional U.S. fast food restaurant chain specializing in roast beef sandwiches. The company has been through many iterations, declaring bankruptcy more than once, rising to as many as 504 locations in 38 U.S. states in the 1980s and falling to fewer than 20 locations on more than one occasion. As of 2024, Rax is based in Ironton, Ohio, and has only six franchisee-owned restaurants still in operation.
History
Origins
Rax was originally known as "JAX Roast Beef", founded by Jack Roschman in 1967, in Springfield, Ohio.[1] In 1969, Roschman sold the chain to General Foods, which then changed the name of the restaurants to "RIX Roast Beef". General Foods ran the chain until 1972, when most of the restaurants closed down. The remaining 10 units were franchised units owned by the Restaurant Administration Corporation (RAC), headed by J. Patrick Ross, a franchisee of multiple restaurant chains including Wendy's, Ponderosa Steak House, and Long John Silver's.
RAC purchased the remainder of RIX from General Foods, and returned the JAX name to the restaurants. RAC eventually decided to focus on the roast beef business, and began franchising the chain. The JAX restaurants were renamed Rax in 1977 to be more suitable for trademarking and franchising, with the first Rax-branded franchise restaurant opening in Columbus, Ohio. RAC was renamed Rax Systems Inc., then again to Rax Restaurants Inc. in 1982.[3] By then, Rax had grown to over 221 restaurants in 25 states.[4]
In 1981, the chain introduced baked potatoes and salad bars to its menu.[5] By June 1984, the 300th location had opened, in Fort Wayne, Indiana.[5] In 1988, the company decided to reduce the size of its money-losing salad and food bars to help reduce expenses and refocus on sandwiches.[6]
Peak
An older Rax, as shown in 2007, still in operation in Lancaster, Ohio: This location was later featured on an episode of Pittsburgh Dad.[7]
At its peak in the 1980s, the Rax chain had grown to 504 locations in 38 states along with an unknown number of restaurants in Guatemala.[8]
1990s and bankruptcy
During the late 1980s, Rax began a series of almost continuous changes to its business model, diversifying its core roast beef sandwich sales into an eclectic menu. At different times Rax promoted baked potatoes, pizza, a dinner bar with pasta, Asian-themed food, a taco bar, an "endless" salad bar, and a dessert bar.[9] Rax also began to transform its restaurants from basic restaurant architecture into designs containing wood elements and solaria, with the intention of becoming the "champagne of fast food". This transformation drove away its core working-class customers, blurred its core sandwich business, and caused profits to plunge for Rax as other chains, such as Wendy's, took advantage of Rax's techniques and improved on them.[4]
Compounding the decline was a management buyout of the company in 1991 and numerous changes that occurred on the company board.[10] The company attempted to convert under-performing outlets by forming joint ventures with Miami Subs and Red Burrito[11][12] as they scaled back many of its stand-alone locations to its core markets, particularly in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.[13]
By August 1992, the chain had faded into obscurity.[14] That same month, a new advertising campaign was formulated with Deutsch Inc. to create a new animated promotion named Mr. Delicious, a sportcoat-wearing, briefcase-toting middle-aged man who constantly overshared his personal life while expressing gratitude for Rax restaurants. The campaign was ostensibly intended to attract adult customers to a 'value' menu.[15][16] Despite the company's efforts to portray the Mr. D. campaign as successful, customers failed to respond. Three months after the Mr. Delicious campaign began, Rax Restaurants Inc. filed for bankruptcy.[14]
In 1994, Rax Restaurants Inc. merged with North Carolina-based Franchise Enterprises Inc, renaming the company Heartland Food Systems Inc., and becoming a Hardee's franchisee.[17] Heartland planned to convert all Rax restaurants into Hardee's by 1997.[18] However, by 1996, the difficulty of converting Rax restaurants to Hardee's placed too much pressure on Heartland, and they were forced to once again file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. As part of a turnaround plan, the company sold the Hardee's units it owned that were not originally Rax stores and changed the company's name back to Rax Restaurants Inc.[19]
By 1996, the chain had dropped to 150 franchises, with 450 locations.[8]
The company was planning a revival for the Rax concept, including a new, simpler menu, a new store prototype, and a new logo and color scheme.[19] However, in November 1996, Wendy's International made an offer to purchase 37 Rax restaurants, intending to convert most of them to Tim Hortons.[20] This caused a change in strategy, and a buyer was sought for the remaining company-owned restaurants.[21]
In July 1997, the Rax brand was purchased by Cassady & Associates.[22]
By December 2005, the brand was owned by Carpediem Management Co., with 51 locations, of which 11 were company-owned and 40 were franchisee-owned.[23] As other fast food chains added kids' meals, Rax created its mascot, Uncle Alligator, who featured in all the kids' meals and toys, always involving some sport or activity (e.g. skateboarding).[24] In 2006, 26 locations remained in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.[25] In December 2007, Rich Donohue, a five-year franchise owner with a restaurant in Ironton, Ohio,[26] purchased the Rax trademark.[27] The new company, From Rax to Rich's Inc., purchased the name to bypass licensing costs, and had plans to open more restaurants in Ohio and Kentucky.
The last Rax in Indiana closed in 2011.[28] By February 2015, 15 locations remained in Illinois, Kentucky, and Ohio, and West Virginia.[29] The last Rax in West Virginia closed in 2016[30] and the number of locations declined to eight by March 2016.[31] Most of the remaining Rax locations are franchisee-owned, with the right to use the Rax name as long as the store is in operation.
The location in Lancaster, Ohio (geographically the closest to Greater Pittsburgh) received renewed attention in 2017 when an episode of Pittsburgh Dad showed the titular character "driving six hours round trip" from Pittsburgh to Lancaster just for Rax.[7] Rax itself closed its last Pennsylvania location in the late 2000s.
As of March 2024, the company operates 6 locations in Illinois, Kentucky, and Ohio.
^ abProbber, Jonathan (June 19, 1984). "300th Rax opens here: A notch up on scale". Fort Wayne News Sentinel. Today was opening day for Fort Wayne-based Rax of Indiana's 22nd restaurant, at 5909 Covington Road. It's the third in this area, and the 300th for the franchisor, Rax Systems of Columbus, Ohio... The first salad bar in a fast service restaurant, according to fast food historians, and baked, topped potatoes, introduced in February 1981. Besides the salad bar (a large, horseshoe-shaped unit) and roast beef, Rax stores sell ham, turkey, fish, barbecued beef, and Philadelphia-style beef sandwiches. They also sell potato skins and soup.
^Amatos, Christopher A. (November 23, 1988). "Rax Will Trim Its Salad Bars, Shareholders Told at Meeting". Columbus Dispatch. p. 01F. The regional restaurant chain will put more emphasis back on sandwiches and trim its salad bar offerings after discovering that its Lunch Bar and Dinner Bar are failing to bring in new business, President Larry Ritter told shareholders at the company's annual meeting yesterday. Ritter said new surveys show Rax lost some market share during the summer. More importantly, six of eight major chains that offer expanded salad bars also lost share, indicating consumers no longer see extensive salad bars as unique or innovative, Ritter said... Rax was one of the first chains in the country to offer salad bars with hot pasta and Mexican items. Its salad bar accounted for as much as 40 percent of sales in some stores, Ritter said.
^Bernstien, Charles (February 1992). "Rax Tries to Rally". Restaurants & Institutions. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
^Amatos, Christopher A. (May 14, 1992). "Red Burrito Venture Lets Rax Widen Scope". Columbus Dispatch. p. 01D. Rax Restaurants Inc. became a partner yesterday with Carlos Garcia in his Red Burrito Mexican food company, with plans to convert some underperforming Rax locations to the new concept. Rax directors approved the agreement yesterday, said William Underhill, president and chief operating officer of the Dublin-based chain. Rax will provide marketing, purchasing and management support as well as locations. Garcia, who earlier this year opened the first Red Burrito in a converted Rax that he is leasing, will manage the company.
^"Rax Restaurant Locations". rax-online.com. Carpediem Management Co. December 30, 2005. Archived from the original on December 30, 2005. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
^"Kids Pages". Rax Restaurants. Carpediem Management Co. Archived from the original on December 30, 2005.
