Roast Beef Revival (Podcast)

In this episode of The Main Course host Barbara Castiglia talked with Jim Plamondon, Co-President of Plamondon Companies, which owns the Roy Rogers brand and operates 13 hotels in the mid-Atlantic. They talked about franchising, legacy brands, and Roy Rogers.

The connection with Roy Rogers started with Jim’s Dad, Pete Sr., who began his career with the Marriott Corporation in the mid-1960s when he was hired to begin their fast food division. 

In 1979, Pete Sr. left Marriott and in 1980 became a franchisee of a Roy Rogers in Frederick, Maryland. He believed in the brand and recognized its strength and opportunity, so he wanted to get started as an entrepreneur, according to Jim. His dream was to run four or five restaurants, but little did he know it would grow into something much more significant.

“The brand itself grew to be 648 restaurants under Marriott,” Plamondon said.

After having careers of their own, Jim and his brother Pete Jr., who also owns the business, joined their father in the mid-1990s. They bought the business from their father and eventually bought Roy Rogers from Hardee’s parent company, CKE Restaurants Holdings.

A new episode of The Main Course, our podcast series with MarketScale, is served up every Tuesday and Thursday.