ARBY'S TIMELINE
- 1964 Arby's is founded in Boardman, Ohio, by brothers Leroy and Forrest Raffel, serving 69-cent roast beef sandwiches, potato chips and Texas-sized iced tea.
- 1965 Arby's first franchise restaurant opens in Akron, Ohio.
- 1970 Arby's opens its 250th restaurant.
- 1975 Arby's opens its 500th restaurant.
- 1978 Arby's introduces the Beef 'n Cheddar Sandwich, which becomes one of the more popular menu items.
- 1978 Arby's changes the company logo from the old 10-gallon hat to the current stylized cowboy hat logo.
- 1980 Arby's opens its 1000th restaurant.
- 1981 Arby's opens its first international restaurant in Japan.
- 1981 Arby's becomes a fast food innovator by providing nutritional information to its customers.
- 1982 Arby's opens its first restaurant in Canada.
- 1985 Arby's opens its 1500th restaurant in Slidell, La.
- 1988 Arby's opens its 2000th restaurant in Milwaukee, Wis.
- 1989 Arby's becomes the first fast food restaurant chain to install toll-free customer hotlines in all of its company-owned restaurants.
- 1989 Arby's becomes the first fast food restaurant chain to introduce Touch 2000, a computer-driven food ordering system allowing customers to order food from a touch sensitive video screen.
- 1991 Arby's opens its 2500th restaurant in Mexico City.
- 1991 Arby's is the first fast food restaurant to introduce a complete light menu: Three sandwiches and four salads, all less than 300 calories and 94% fat free.
- 1993 Arby's corporate headquarters moves from Miami Beach to Fort Lauderdale.
- 1994 Arby's is the first global fast food chain to institute a ban on smoking in all of its corporate restaurants.
- 1996 Arby's opens its 3,000th restaurant in Tipp City, Ohio.
- 1996 Arby's, Inc. purchases the T.J. Cinnamons® brand with plans to develop it as a breakfast/snack/dessert dual-brand for the Arby's system.
- 1996 Arby's, Inc. changes its name to Triarc Restaurant Group to reflect its evolution as a multi-branded restaurant company.
- 1997 The first dual-branded Arby's/T.J. Cinnamons restaurant opens in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
- 1997 Triarc Restaurant Group sells its 355 company-owned Arby's Restaurants to franchisee RTM to allow the company to better focus on its role as a franchisor of high-quality restaurant brands.