Go To

Denny's

National family-dining restaurant chain.

Headquarters:
203 E. Main Street, P-11-6
Spartanburg, SC 29319
Employees: 21,000
CEO: Nelson Marchioli
Stock Symbol: DENN

Website: http://www.dennys.com

Career Site

Denny's Corporation is America's largest family-style restaurant chain in terms of market share and number of units. Denny's, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Denny's Holdings, Inc. and Denny's, Inc., owns and operates the Denny's restaurant brand. The restaurants are best-known for their "Grand Slam" breakfasts.

Denny's operates 394 company-owned restaurants and 1,152 franchised and licensed units, with operations in the United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Guam, Mexico, New Zealand and Puerto Rico.

Most Denny's restaurants are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This "always open" policy is a distinct advantage over competitors. Denny's menu offers traditional American-style food such as breakfast items, appetizers, sandwiches, dinner entrees and desserts. Denny's sales are broadly distributed across each of its dayparts (i.e., breakfast, lunch, dinner and late-night); however, breakfast items account for the majority of Denny's sales.

Denny's offered a free Grand Slam breakfast on February 3 following ads in the Super Bowl to get customers to visit the restaurants.

History

1953 Harold Butler founded Danny's Donuts in Lakewood, Calif. First year earnings are $120,000.
1954 First year profits lead to additional Danny's Donut shops and menu expands to include sandwiches and other entrees. Danny's Donuts is renamed Danny's Coffee Shops.
1959 The chain is renamed Denny's Restaurants, with 20 Denny's serving customers by year's end.
1963 Expansion led by an ambitious franchising program continues and 78 coffee shops are operating in seven western states by year end.
1966 Denny's makes its initial public offering on the American and Pacific Coast Stock Exchanges.
1967 Denny's becomes an international company by opening a restaurant in Acapulco, Mexico.
1968 Now 192 restaurants strong, Denny's merges with Sandy's Restaurant chain and acquires Pioneer Restaurants.
1977 Denny's introduces the Original Grand Slam Breakfast, which remains Denny's best-selling menu item.
1981 Denny's grows to over 1,000 restaurants.
1987 Denny's is purchased by TW Services, Inc., one of the largest restaurant companies in the United States.
1991 Denny's headquarters moves from Irvine, Calif. to Spartanburg, S.C., as its parent company, TW Services, Inc., centralizes company operating management and support groups.
1993 TW Services, Inc. (Denny's parent company) changes its name to Flagstar Corporation.
1998 Denny's introduces a new Denny's Classic Diner concept that features a 1950's-style theme and a smaller building than the traditional Denny's. Flagstar Corporation (Denny's parent company) changes its name to Advantica Restaurant Group, Inc.
1999 Denny's introduces national reimaging program -- Denny's Diner.
2002 Advantica Restaurant Group, Inc. (Denny's parent company) divests its two regional restaurant brands, Coco's and Carrows, and is renamed Denny's Corporation to reflect the one brand focus.
2004 Denny's Corporation completes a successful recapitalization of the company's balance sheet that reduces outstanding debt, extends the maturities on its obligations and lowers annual interest expense by approximately $24 million.

Benefits

Choice Plus Program
Medical plan
Dental plan
Vision plan
Employee, spousal, and children's life insurance plan
Personal accident insurance plan - optional
Long-term and short-term disability plans

Retirement Program
Matched 401(k) plan (to 3%)

Other Benefits
Paid vacation and holidays
Free meals for restaurant management
Internal promotional opportunities
Employee Assistance Plan for you and your immediate family members
Tuition Reimbursement Program
Student Loan Program
Service Awards
Referral Bonuses

Updated February 3, 2009