Industry Fast food Area served Michigan Founded 1984 Type of business Private | Founder William Van Domelen Number of locations 1 Owner Burger Time | |
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Products Hamburgers
French fries
Soft drinks
Milkshakes
Fried chicken Headquarters West Fargo, North Dakota, United States | ||
The hunt for hot n now
Hot 'n Now is an American fast-food restaurant chain based in Holt, Michigan. Founded in 1984, the chain once grew to more than 150 locations throughout the United States at its peak. Subsequently under the ownership of PepsiCo, the chain filed for bankruptcy in 2004, and was then sold to STEN Corporation. As of September 9, 2016, only the Sturgis, Michigan location remains in operation.Oxford Michigan along with Lapeer Michigan Locations Closed in late 2009
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History
Hot 'n Now was founded in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 1984 by William Van Domelen. Van Domelen had opened the first Michigan Wendy’s restaurants and a franchisee of Burger Chefs in Southwest Michigan.
The company began franchising activities in 1987. By 1990, the chain operated more than 100 stores in 15 different states. That same year, it was acquired by PepsiCo, which placed operations under its Taco Bell unit. Van Domelen resigned from the company soon after the sale.
The company began making changes to the chain's concept that frustrated the franchisees starting in 1992 with the menu. Hot 'n Now President Don Pierce left the company in 1993. Support to franchisees declined soon there after. Hot 'n Now was treated as a test brand. In the first quarter 1995, the company closing 80 corporate owned stores with the expectation to sell all the corporate owned locations to franchisees or licensees.
Richard Loehr, an automobile dealership owner, purchased a franchise for Broward County, Florida, in January 1990. By the end of 1995, Loehr had five locations, but he wanted out. Hot 'n Now would not buy his locations after initially showing interest and blocked any sale to other parties. Profits dropped after 1993 for Loehr's locations. Loehr laid off all 300 employees and closed his six locations by March 1995. On March 16, 1995, Loehr filed a lawsuit against Taco Bell. The case went to trial in December 1998.
Taco Bell sold Hot 'n Now to a Connecticut company in 1996. By 2002, the company was based in Holt, Michigan, with 53 locations. The company closed a handful of locations. The company started an El Toro-branded Mexican menu to be co-located with Hot 'N How; two such locations opened in January 2002.
In October 2003, Proquest Capital Corporation acquired Hot 'n Now assets and some liabilities from Hot 'n Now, LLC. Proquest was soon renamed to Hot Brands, Inc. At the time of acquisition, the chain had 44 locations, 23 corporate and 21 franchisee owned, in three states: Michigan, Wisconsin, and Indiana.
In 2004, the company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and was then sold to STEN Corporation, which also owns the Burger Time chain. Burger Time was sold to BTND, LLC, which owns the Hot 'N Now name.
One of last two locations, which was in Bay City, Michigan suffered a fire on September 5, 2016. The location was already planning a switchover in three weeks to Burger 81. Only the Sturgis, Michigan, location remains.
Menu and design
The majority of the chain's locations focused entirely on drive-thru service, featuring a small footprint building with a tall, slanted roof style. Some previous locations were more traditional fast-food locations, complete with seating, and others were combined with gas stations.
The chain briefly used the characters from Mad magazine's "Spy vs. Spy" in its advertising. The current menu focuses on low-cost hamburgers, as well as sides such as french fries and milkshakes.
In 2003, the menu consisted of hamburgers, cheeseburgers, double hamburgers and cheeseburgers, olive burgers, French fries, and soft drinks, with new owner Hot Brands adding mushroom burgers.