A&W Restaurants

A 1950s A&W Burger Family display in Hillsboro, Oregon[12]

In the expansion years of the 1950s and 1960s, franchisees were signing 20- or 25-year contracts under the older model.[8] The chain expanded into Canada in 1956, opening restaurants in Winnipeg and Montreal. By 1960, A&W had 2,000 restaurants.[5][13] In 1963, the chain opened its first store on Okinawa.[14] In the following years, the chain branched into other foreign markets, including the Philippines and Malaysia.[5] The first restaurant in Malaysia (Malaya at the time) was opened by Al and Geri Lieboff, a couple from Las Vegas, who got the franchising rights for Malaya and Singapore. Setting up the chain seemed to be complicated, as they were unable to find a proper site, and in the recruitment process, Malayans had no consent in adorning Western "cabaret girl" style clothes. Already at the time of setup, kids were starting to favor chicken, burgers and hot dogs rather than rice and curry, and within the next five years, would also see a rise in new locations, to an up to 22 within five years.[15]

Dale Mulder opened up a Lansing, Michigan, A&W franchise in 1961.[8] Mulder added to his menu in 1963 the bacon cheeseburger after a customer made repeated orders for bacon to be added to his cheeseburger. Thus A&W is credited with inventing the bacon cheeseburger.[16]

In 1963, the company was sold again, followed by another sale in 1967 to United Fruit Co. conglomerate. AMK Corporation purchased United Fruit in 1970. Then AMK formed United Brands Company to hold A&W.[8][5]

In 1971, A&W Beverages Inc.—a beverage subsidiary—began supplying bottled A&W products to grocery stores. The bottled products would become available nationally.[8] In 1972, A&W's Canadian division was sold to Unilever.

In the 1970s, A&W had more stores than McDonald's,[17] with a peak in 1974 of 2,400 units.[8] Oshkosh, Wisconsin, franchise manager Jim Brajdic said: "Problems back then, including a lawsuit, franchisee discontent and inconsistencies in the operation, caused the chain to flounder and branches to close."[17] A&W moved to a modern style franchise agreement which introduced royalty payments and new standards. However, as their 20- or 25-year original agreements expired, many franchisees refused the revised terms.

A&W in the 1980s began offering the Third Pounder to compete with McDonald's Quarter Pounder. As advertised, the Third beat the Quarter in taste tests and was less expensive by weight. In his 2007 memoir, former owner A. Alfred Taubman claimed research had revealed that it had been unsuccessful in part due to Americans' widespread innumeracy, specifically their inability to understand fractions: 1/3 was perceived as smaller than 1/4 (due to the smaller denominator) in spite of being a larger quantity.[18] The burger was relaunched in 2021 as the 3/9 Pound burger, humorously attempting to capitalize on the now-popular fractions misunderstanding story.[19]

In 1982, A. Alfred Taubman purchased A&W[20] and placed under Taubman Investment Co.[8] Taubman only purchased the restaurant company and not A&W Beverages. The chain dropped to fewer than 500 locations in the mid-1980s. A freeze on issuing franchises was put in place.[8]

In 1985, the chain was struggling in Singapore, having lost its relevance to newer, larger chains, and having lost its dominance in the fried chicken area to KFC. The chain was about to amp up its operations in the Asian region, with a possible launch in Hong Kong as well as three new restaurants in Thailand.[21]

Lodi the birthplace of A&W Root Beer since 1919

A new format concept, A&W Great Food Restaurants, was developed. Ten corporate-owned locations were opened to test the concept, which was a sit-down, upscale, family-theme restaurant with a large salad bar and homemade ice cream.[8]

A restaurant in Ximending, Taiwan opened on February 22, 1986.[22]

A&W Root Beer and restaurant in Lodi, California

In 1987, the company was headquartered in Livonia, Michigan and Mulder became CEO and president. The freeze was lifted and a push occurred in 1986 that added 60 franchise units.[8] In 1989, A&W made an agreement with Minnesota-based Carousel Snack Bars to convert that chain's 200 stores (mostly kiosks in shopping malls) to A&W Hot Dogs & More.[13][23] Some A&W Hot Dogs & More are still operating.[17]

In 1995, Taubman sold A&W to Sidney Feltenstein.[20] A&W merged with Long John Silver's to form Yorkshire Global Restaurants based in Lexington, Kentucky. Yorkshire in 2000 agreed to test multi-branded locations with Tricon Global Restaurants. By March 2002, the Yorkshire-Tricon multi-branding test consisted of 83 KFC/A&Ws, six KFC/Long John Silver's and three Taco Bell/Long John Silver's and was considered successful by the companies.[24]

In the late 2000s, A&W added franchises with a nostalgic look and modern technology. They have a carhop design with drive-thrus and some have picnic tables.[17]

A co-branded A&W and Long John Silver's in Gillette, Wyoming

Yorkshire in March 2002 merged with Tricon Global Restaurants to form Yum! Brands.[24][25]

The Singapore branch was taken over by KUB in September 2001, who also oversaw the restaurants in Malaysia. At the time of takeover it had twelve restaurants, but November 2002, the number had dwindled to eight. Its restaurants had already downgraded: the Ang Mo Kio restaurant shut down, the Tampines restaurant had refused to repair its air conditioning systems and cable TV was switched off in all outlets. Food sales had decreased about 5-12%.[26]

A&W opened its first outlet in Bangladesh on December 15, 2004.[27] There are currently two outlets; one in Dhanmondi and another in Gulshan.[28]

Most A&W stores that opened in the U.S. during Yum!'s ownership were co-branded with another of Yum!'s chains—Long John Silver's, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, or KFC.[9]

A&W Ice Cold Root Beer Restaurant Neon Sign - La Crosse, Wisconsin

In January 2011, Yum! Brands announced its intention to sell A&W along with Long John Silver's. Citing poor sales for both divisions, Yum! planned to focus on international expansion for its remaining brands, with particular emphasis on growth in China.[29] In September 2011, Yum! announced that it would sell the chain to A Great American Brand, a consortium of various A&W franchisees in the United States and overseas.[25] The sale was finalized on December 19, 2011, under the leadership of returning CEO Kevin M. Bazner.[11]

In early 2013, A&W introduced its first new product in several years: a six-ounce version of its soft-serve blended dessert treat. Mini Polar Swirls were the first product to be launched on Vine.[30] The following summer, 250 of A&W's restaurants began hand-breading their chicken tenders, moving towards higher-quality menu items and expanding their chicken category. In April 2014, the Hand-Breaded Chicken Tender Texas Toast Sandwich was added to the menu as a limited time offering, along with a campaign to create the world's longest branded hashtag.[31] In June 2014, A&W launched two new flavors of its Polar Swirl dessert treat: Sour Patch Kids and Nutter Butter.

In October 2013, A&W opened its first new concept restaurant, A&W Burgers Chicken Floats.[32] The new concept focuses on fresh made-to-order food and heavily emphasizes customer service. The menu features burgers made with fresh beef and a choice of toppings, hand-breaded chicken tenders, all beef hot dogs and several sides.

In April 2019, A&W returned to Singapore after a 16-year absence, its first location being at Jewel Changi Airport.[33]

In June 2019, A&W became the first franchise restaurant chain to turn 100.[34]

A&W announced in March 2022 that it was going to withdraw from the Thai market due to economic losses. The restaurants shut down on March 20.[35]

There are nearly 1,000 A&W Restaurants worldwide with approximately 600 in the U.S.[34]