12 restaurant chains you loved that don't exist anymore

One thing we learn in life is that businesses come and go. Even the places once thought to be large enough to last forever. Here's 12 popular North American restaurant chains that did not stand the test of time.

4. Clock

(The recently closed Auburndale, FL Clock Restaurant in 2011)

Clock was a popular Swedish hamburger chain that was pretty widespread around the country during the 1970s and 1980s. The 24-hour restaurant’s fortunes changed in the 1990s leading to its gradual disapperance. In August 2017, one of the former chain’s last locations closed after 40 years of business in Auburndale, Florida.

5. Howard Johnson’s

(A Howard Johnson’s restaurant near Waynesboro, Virginia. Courtesy of Ben Schumin at Wikipedia.org)

For most of the 20th century, Howard Johnson’s was one of the country’s largest restaurant chains.Founded by Howard Deering Johnson in 1925, the first restaurant opened in Quincy, Massachusetts, featuring fried clams, baked beans, chicken pot pies, frankfurters, ice cream, and soft drinks. Known for its unique icons of orange roofs, cupolas, and weather vanes, the chain reached its peak in 1975 with more than 1,000 restaurants and 500 motor lodges in 42 states and Canada. In 1986, the company-owned restaurants were acquired by Marriott. However, Marriott was interested in their high profile real estate locations. In October 2017, the last Howard Johnson’s restaurant in Lake George, NY closed for good.

However, now a part of Wyndham Worldwide, the Howard Johnson brand continues to survive as a major hotel chain.

6. Kenny Rogers Roasters

(A Kenny Rogers Roasters in SM City Clark, Angeles City, Philippines. Courtesy of FoxLad at English Wikipedia.)

Once upon a time, Kenny Rogers was known for more than being a famed country music singer and songwriter. In 1991, he teamed up with former Kentucky governor John Y. Brown, Jr. Kenny Rogers Roasters to open the first Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurant in Coral Springs, Florida. By 1996, the fast food chicken chain had grown to more than 425 restaurants. Ultimately, increased competition from Boston Market became too much to overcome, leading to the last North American restaurant closing on December 31, 2011. Believe it or not, Kenny Rogers Roasters continues to flourish with more than 140 locations in the Philippines, Malaysia and China.