Howard Johnson

About Howard Johnson

With a loan of $500, Howard Dearing Johnson purchased a small patent medicine shop in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1925. He used an old-fashioned, hand-cranked freezer in the store's basement to make vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream for the shop's soda fountain. Three years later, with menu additions like hot dogs and hamburgers, he opened the first Howard Johnson's Restaurant.

By 1935, there were 25 Howard Johnson ice cream and sandwich stands in Massachusetts. Five years later, with more than 100 restaurants on the Atlantic Coast, Johnson opened the first turnpike restaurant on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. In 1954, when the company operated 400 restaurants, the first Howard Johnson hotel opened in Savannah, Georgia.

After Johnson's son took over the company in 1959, it was subsequently acquired by three different companies before Cendant Corp. bought the hotel chain in 1990. Howard Johnson Int'l. franchises offer mid-priced lodging at Howard Johnson Plaza Hotels, Howard Johnson Hotels, Howard Johnson Inns and Howard Johnson Express Inns. Children stay free at Howard Johnson, and Road Rally and AARP offer senior discounts at the hotels.

Franchise Units

Year	U.S.	Canadian	International	Company Owned
2011	312	67	83	0
2010	338	62	77	0
2009	348	56	71	0
2008	367	40	63	0