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 Checkers Drive-In,Dothan, Alabama | |
| Checkers Rally's | |
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Fast foodFranchising |
| Founded | 1986; 40 years ago (1986) (as Checker's) Mobile, Alabama, U.S. 1985; 41 years ago (1985) (as Rally's) Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. 1999; 27 years ago (1999) (merger of Checkers and Rally's) |
| Founders |
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| Headquarters | Tampa, Florida, U.S. |
Number of locations | 745 (2024)
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Area served | United States |
| Products | Burgers,hot dogs,chicken,fish,hot wings,french fries,shakes,soft drinks |
| Revenue | US$ 521 million[3] |
| Owner | Checkers Holding Inc |
| Website | checkersandrallys |
Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Inc. is an American fast food double drive-through chain franchise in theUnited States. The company operatesCheckers andRally's restaurants in 28 states and theDistrict of Columbia. They specialize inhamburgers,hot dogs,french fries,milkshakes, anddrinks.
Originally separate companies serving different geographic areas (with Checkers serving theSoutheast and Rally's serving theMidwest), Checkers and Rally's merged in August 1999. Generally speaking, the Checkers name remains used in the Southeast as well as theNortheast while the Rally's name remains used in the Midwest as well asCalifornia; the two brands have overlapped in several areas.[4]
The merged company is headquartered inTampa, Florida. Most locations specialize incarryout service with drive-through and "walk-up" windows available, but no indoor seating, though some legacy Rally's locations in the Midwest retain dining rooms, as well as two Checkers locations with indoor dining areas inClearwater,Orlando, andTavares, Florida.
Checkers was founded in 1986 inMobile, Alabama by Jim Mattei and went public in 1991. Rally's was founded inLouisville, Kentucky in 1985 by Jim Patterson.[5] In 1991 and 1992, Rally's absorbed Maxie's of America, Snapps Drive-Thru and Zipps Drive-Thru.[6]
In 1996, Rally's was bought byCKE Restaurants, a parent company ofCarl's Jr. andHardee's. CKE sold Rally's to Checkers in 1999. Unlike the two CKE chains (which have at various points flip flopped between marketing Carl's Jr. & Hardee's as one chain or separate regional chains that both share Carl's Jr's Happy Star logo and imaging, but have largely separate menus), Checkers promptly merged Rally's into its branding, and the two chains are now only different by name.
In June 2006, the company went private through a merger with Taxi Holdings Corp., an affiliate of Wellspring Capital Management, a private equity firm. In 2014, Wellspring sold Checkers to another private equity firm,Sentinel Capital Partners.[7] On March 23, 2017, Checkers announced that it would be sold toOak Hill Capital Partners for $525 million.[8] The sale was completed a month later.[9]
On May 23, 2018, Checkers announced a planned expansion for over two dozen locations in thePittsburgh area. Despite Rally's having brand recognition in the area the locations were to be branded as Checkers.[10][11] The company made its official return in the area in 2019 under the Rally's brand with the opening of a location inPenn Hills.[12]
In February 2020, Checkers & Rally's named Frances Allen, former CEO ofBoston Market, as their new CEO. She left the position in April 2024 and was replaced by Chris Tebben, former President of Mars Retail Group, in September 2024 .[13][14]
One of the first advertising campaigns by Checkers and Rally's from 1999 to late 2000 featured the slogan "High Performance Human Fuel". Thetelevisionadvertisements for the campaign were animated in an anime style, featuring a woman named Holly, in pursuit of fast food. The ads were created byCrispin Porter & Bogusky,[15] and illustrated byPeter Chung, who was also responsible for the animation of MTV seriesÆon Flux.[16]
In September 2007, ML Rogers, an advertising agency, won the advertising rights for Checkers Restaurants, and completely restructured the advertising campaign. Among the many changes is their new slogan, "little place. BIG TASTE", beginning October 2007.[17] In 2007, the chain used a character called Rap Cat, a stuffed animal cat who performs a rap song about the chain. The ad campaign became popular after it became aviral video onYouTube.[18] The company gave away paper bags patterned like a basketball jersey to be worn by cats, with slots to cut out for the legs and tail, and asked customers to post videos of their cat wearing it to a Rap Cat website. This received criticism from animal rights activists, though Checkers stated that the packaging was "intended only as a creative extension of our television campaign."[19][20]
In September 2014, they started to have a character called Mr. Bag, a talking bag who appears in the new commercials for Checkers and Rally's.
In September 2016, rapper and restaurateurRick Ross stated his plans for a partnership with Checkers and Rally's, including ownership of a few franchises.[21] He opened his first franchise location inMiami in early 2017.
As of 2025, the chain offers various limited-time specials including meal bundles and discounts on select items.[22]
On May 29, 2019, Checkers and Rally's disclosed a long-running data breach that affected an unknown number of customers at 103 of its Checkers and Rally's locations, with some being infected with a point-of-salemalware as early as 2015.[23]
| International | |
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| National | |
