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Jack in the Box

Headquarters:
9330 Balboa Ave.
San Diego, CA 92123
Employees: 43,000
CEO: Linda Lang
Stock Symbol: JBX

Website: http://www.jackinthebox.com

Career Site

Jack in the Box Inc. is a restaurant company that operates and franchises Jack in the Box restaurants and, through a wholly owned subsidiary, Qdoba Mexican Grill in a combined 43 states.

Jack in the Box is among the nation's leading fast-food hamburger chains, with 2,233 quick-serve restaurants in 18 states. As the first major hamburger chain to develop and expand the concept of drive-thru dining, Jack in the Box has always emphasized on-the-go convenience, with about 85 percent of the half-billion guests served annually buying food at the drive-thru or for take-out. In addition to drive-thru windows, most restaurants have indoor dining areas and are open 18-24 hours a day.

Jack in the Box pioneered a number of firsts in the quick-serve industry. It was the first major fast-food chain that started as a drive-thru, and it was also the first to introduce menu items that are now staples on most fast-food menu boards, including a breakfast sandwich and portable salad. Today, Jack in the Box offers a broad selection of distinctive, innovative products targeted at the adult fast-food consumer, including hamburgers, specialty sandwiches, salads and real ice cream shakes. Hamburgers represent the core of the menu, including the signature Jumbo Jack, Sourdough Jack and Ultimate Cheeseburger. The company also offers value-priced products on "Jack's Value Menu," including tacos, a chicken sandwich and Breakfast Jack.

Qdoba Mexican Grill is an emerging leader in fast-casual dining - the fastest growing segment in the restaurant industry - with 505 restaurants in 42 states. Its flexible restaurant design can be built as a free-standing structure or as an integrated part of a retail development, with indoor seating generally accommodating 60-80 guests. Qdoba is renowned for offering nouveau Mexican cuisine that appeals primarily to adult tastes. Orders are custom-made using blends of Mexican spices and fresh flavors, including freshly grilled chicken and steak.

In fiscal 2009, the company reported revenues of $2.47 billion and net income of $118.4 million.

The company sold its chain of 61 Quick Stuff convenience stores in 2009. In fiscal 2010, the company plans to open 45 to 50 new Jack in the Box restaurants, including 30 company locations. It plans to open 30 to 40 new Qdoba restaurants, including 15 company locations.

History

In 1951, a businessman named Robert Peterson opened the first Jack in the Box restaurant in San Diego on the main east-west thoroughfare leading into city. Equipped with an intercom system and drive-thru window, the tiny restaurant served up hamburgers to passing motorists for just 18 cents, while a large jack-in-the-box clown kept watch from the roof.

Along with his Jack in the Box restaurants, Mr. Peterson operated other restaurant concepts as well as a food-manufacturing facility as divisions of a parent company called San Diego Commissary Co. In 1960, San Diego Commissary changed its name to Foodmaker Co., and Jack in the Box expanded outside of California with the opening of its first restaurants in Phoenix, Ariz. Three years later, Jack in the Box expanded into Texas, where it opened restaurants in the Houston and Dallas-Ft. Worth areas.

In 1968, Ralston Purina Co. acquired controlling interest in Foodmaker and operated the company as a wholly-owned subsidiary. Under Ralston Purina, Jack in the Box restaurants underwent a major expansion in an effort to penetrate the eastern and midwestern markets, and the business grew to more than 1,000 restaurants by 1979. That same year, Foodmaker decided to concentrate its efforts and resources in the western and southwestern markets, which it believed offered the greatest growth and profit potential. Accordingly, the company sold or closed more than 200 Jack in the Box restaurants in the eastern and midwestern markets.

An investment group, including members of Foodmaker management, completed a leveraged buyout of the company from Ralston Purina in 1985. Foodmaker went public two years later before an investment group, again including members of Foodmaker management, converted the company to a privately owned corporation in 1988. In 1992, Foodmaker again went public, with an offering of 17.2 million shares priced at $15 per share.

In 1995, Foodmaker launched an advertising campaign that featured Jack as the company's fictional founder, CEO and ad pitchman. Longtime customers will remember Jack as a clown who formerly served atop the company's family-friendly drive-thru speaker box. Then in 1980, he was blown up in a television commercial that signaled a shift toward more adult fare. With his oversized, ping-pong ball-shaped head, biting wit and unfailing dedication to offering the finest fast-food experience to his guests, Jack and his commercials were an instant hit. Soon, his likeness appeared on premiums ranging from antenna toppers to Pez dispensers. More than 27 million premiums bearing Jack's likeness have been sold since 1995.

Over the years, Foodmaker divested itself of all restaurant concepts except Jack in the Box and closed its food-manufacturing facilities. Acknowledging the strength and growth of the Jack in the Box brand, the company changed its name to Jack in the Box Inc. in 1999 and converted its New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol to JBX. That same year, Jack in the Box expanded into the southeastern U.S., with new restaurants opening in Charlotte, Baton Rouge and Nashville. A fourth southeastern market, Greenville-Spartanburg, was opened in 2001.

In 2002, Jack in the Box introduced a new, co-branded concept that combined a full-size Jack in the Box restaurant with the company's proprietary brand of convenience store called Quick Stuff.

With a long-term goal of becoming a national restaurant company, Jack in the Box entered the fast-casual restaurant category in 2003 with the acquisition of Qdoba Restaurant Corporation, operator and franchiser of Qdoba Mexican Grill. With more than 300 restaurants operating in 40 states, Qdoba is an emerging leader in fast-casual dining. Qdoba is renown for offering nouveau Mexican cuisine that appeals primarily to adult tastes. Orders are custom-made using blends of Mexican spices and fresh flavors, including freshly grilled chicken and steak.

Benefits

• Medical/Dental/Vision
• Pension Plan
• Vacation Pay
• Service Awards
• Meal Discount

• Medical/Dental/Vision
• Pension Plan
• Optional Life Insurance
• Vacation Pay
• Service Awards
• Meal Discount

• Medical/Dental/Vision
• Pension Plan
• 401(k) Savings Plan
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Optional Life Insurance
• Optional Disability Coverage
• Long-term Care
• Optional Accident Insurance
• Paid Time Off:
  • Vacation
  • Floating Holidays
  • Sick Leave
  • Company Holidays
• Employee Assistance Program
• Health Advocate Program
• Volunteer/Community Giving Incentives
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Service Awards
• Meal Discount
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Updated June 15, 2010