Hard Rock Cafe

Restaurants

The first Hard Rock Cafe (HRC) opened on June 14, 1971, in Piccadilly, London, under the ownership of young Americans Peter Morton and Isaac Tigrett. Hard Rock initially had an eclectic decor but it later started to display memorabilia.

The chain began to expand worldwide in 1982 with locations in (among others) Toronto, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Paris and Berlin. Hard Rock Cafe locations in the United States vary from smaller, more tourist driven markets (Biloxi, Pigeon Forge, Key West, etc.) to large metropolises (Houston, Philadelphia, New York City, Chicago, Boston, Washington DC, etc.). Hard Rock Cafe typically does not franchise cafe locations in the United States. All US cafes are corporate owned and operated, except for cafes in Tampa and Four Winds New Buffalo casino. However, in the transition of the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel property originally owned and then later sold to Rank by founder Peter Morton. Morton retained hotel naming rights west of the Mississippi. When Morton sold his Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel to the Morgans Hotel Group, he also sold those naming rights, which then gave rise to two US franchised hotels (without cafes) in Albuquerque and Tulsa. The Albuquerque hotel no longer pays for the Hard Rock rights and reverted to its former name in June 2013. More hotels franchised from Morgan's are planned for Sioux City and Vancouver.

In 1990, The Rank Group, a London-based leisure company, acquired Mecca Leisure Group and continued expansion of the concept in its geographic territory. Rank went on to purchase Hard Rock America from Peter Morton as well as Hard Rock Canada from Nick Bitove. After the completion of these acquisitions, Rank gained worldwide control of the brand. In March 2007, the Seminole Tribe of Florida acquired Hard Rock Cafe International, Inc. and other related entities from Rank for US$965 million. In 2008, anonymous members of the wait staff criticized the business because of its practice of paying them less than half the official minimum wage in the UK, with the business allocating tips to staff to bring their salaries within the law. Most customers, it was argued, do not realize that they are subsidizing a low wage when they give the tip.

Music memorabilia

HRC is known for its collection of rock and roll memorabilia. The cafes solicit donations of music memorabilia but also purchase a number of items at auctions around the world, including autographed guitars, costumes from world tours and rare photographs; these are often to be found mounted on cafe walls. The collection began in 1979 with an un-signed Red Fender Lead II guitar from Eric Clapton, who was a regular at the first restaurant in London. Clapton wanted management to hang the guitar over his regular seat in order to lay claim to that spot, and they obliged. This prompted Pete Townshend of The Who to give one of his guitars, also un-signed with the note "Mine's as good as his! Love, Pete." Hard Rock's archive includes over 80,000 items, and is the largest private collection of Rock and Roll memorabilia in the world. Marquee pieces from the collection were briefly displayed in a Hard Rock museum named "The Vault" in Orlando, Florida from January 2003 until September 2004. After the closure, items were disbursed to various restaurant locations. The London Vault remains open and free to visitors, located in the retail Rock Shop of the original cafe. In 2005, Deep Purple launched its new album Rapture of the Deep in Hard Rock Cafe London. This show at the release party itself was released as a DVD.

The Hard Rock Café is also in possession of a Bedford VAL 6 axle coach used in the 1967 film The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour. The vehicle was completely refurbished after filming. It is currently displayed in the US, but makes regular appearances in events in the UK, especially at the original Hard Rock Cafe in London. In 2001, a competition was run to win the actual bus, but it was never given away and remained with the cafe.

Casinos, hotels and casinos

In 1995, Peter Morton spent $80 million to open the Hard Rock Hotel near the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. A subsequent $100 million expansion in 1999 nearly doubled the hotel's capacity.

In May 2006, Morton sold the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas to Morgans Hotel Group for $770 million, including the rights to the Hard Rock Hotel brand west of the Mississippi, including Texas, California, Australia, and Vancouver, British Columbia. The hotel began another expansion in 2007 at a cost of $750 million. The project added 875 rooms in two towers and expanded meeting space. In March 2011, Morgans surrendered control of the property to partner Brookfield Asset Management, citing the high debt on the property in the face of the economic downturn.

Today, the Seminole Tribe of Florida owns and operates all units except the Las Vegas,Tulsa, Sioux City, and Vancouver properties. In 2004, Hard Rock International and Sol Melia Hotels and Resorts launched Lifestar Hoteles España SL, a joint venture that intended to manage Europe's first Hard Rock Hotel in Madrid, but it was never opened as a Hard Rock property upon the dissolution of the joint venture in 2007. The other joint venture hotels are in Chicago, New York and San Diego (the San Diego property includes Hard Rock condominiums). Hard Rock also operates hotels and resorts in Orlando, Florida (a joint venture with Loews Hotels); Bali, Indonesia; and Pattaya, Thailand, (a joint venture with Ong Beng Seng/Hotel Properties Limited). Hard Rock International continues to expand internationally (including hotels, casinos, resorts, and condominiums) through several joint ventures (Becker Ventures, Ong Beng Seng/Hotel Properties Limited and Loews Hotels), including hotels in Chicago, Bali, Orlando, Penang, San Diego, Singapore, and planned openings in Abu Dhabi, Cancun, Dubai, Hungary, Panama, Punta Cana and Vallarta - as well as hotel-casinos in Hollywood, Florida; Tampa, Florida; Biloxi, Mississippi; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Tulsa Catoosa, Oklahoma.

The Hotel Zoso in Palm Springs, California was converted into a 160-room Hard Rock Hotel and opened in 2014. A location in Atlantic City, New Jersey was planned but canceled. All-inclusive resorts operate under the Hard Rock brand in Mexico and the Dominican Republic. In 2013, the Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park, opened as joint slot machine and track venture. The Rocksino is located near Cleveland.

On March 1, 2017, Hard Rock announced plans to spend $300 million to purchase and renovate the closed Trump Taj Mahal resort for a summer 2018 re-opening as the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City.

International locations include

Hard Rock Park

In March 2006, Hard Rock Cafe International announced that it had licensed the "Hard Rock" name to HRP Myrtle Beach Operations, LLC, to design, build, and operate a $400 million 150-acre (0.61 km²) theme park called Hard Rock Park. Hard Rock Park opened on April 15, 2008 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The park was expected to draw an estimated 30,000 visitors per day, promised to create more than 3,000 jobs, and was billed as the largest single investment in South Carolina's history. It planned to feature a large concert arena and six zones with more than 40 attractions. HRP Myrtle Beach Operations, LLC, filed for Chapter 11 on September 25, 2008. The company hoped to re-open in 2009 after restructuring. On January 2, 2009 after failing to attract a buyer with a minimum $35 million bid for over two months, Hard Rock Park asked a Delaware Bankruptcy Court to convert the filing to Chapter 7, triggering immediate liquidation of assets to pay off creditors, and closing the park.

New owners renamed the venue Freestyle Music Park and planned to reopen retaining a music-theme but, without the Hard Rock name by Memorial Day, 2009. The park only operated one additional year and never reopened due to poor attendance.

Hard Rock Stadium

In August 2016, it has been reported that the NFL will announce the Miami Dolphins' stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida will be renamed Hard Rock Stadium; ironically, the stadium's other high-profile tenant, the University of Miami's football team, has no greater rival than Florida State, whose athletic teams are, with the tribe's blessing, known as the "Seminoles".

Acquisition by the Seminole Tribe of Florida

On December 7, 2006, Rank sold its Hard Rock business to the Seminole Tribe of Florida for $965 million. Included in the deal were 124 Hard Rock Cafes, four Hard Rock Hotels, two Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hotels, two Hard Rock Live! concert venues, and stakes in three unbranded hotels. Rank retained the Hard Rock Casino in London, and rebranded it the G Casino Piccadilly. The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas was also not part of the deal, as it was sold by Peter Morton to Morgans Hotel Group in May 2006. The final takeover was mired in controversy, due to a payment clause in a contract with one casino developer, Power Plant Entertainment. Power Plant and the Seminoles announced a settlement in April 2007 which both sides called equitable. On January 8, 2007, Rank shareholders approved the Seminoles' $965 million offer. The Tribe announced it had finalized the deal on March 11, 2007.

On June 22, 2008, the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood began "Vegas-style" table gambling in addition to the Class II slots already in operation. To win approval for the table games, which were barred under Florida law, the Seminole Tribe paid the State of Florida $100 million as part of a 25-year pact signed by Governor Charlie Crist. On July 3, 2008, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the governor's agreement was unconstitutional, but table games continue to operate because the Federal Department of the Interior approved the now-invalid pact with the state.