D’Lites was founded in 1978 and, within less than a decade, the fast food chain had soon expanded to over 100 locations nationwide.
Unfortunately, their success was very short-lived due to their inability to offer people healthier food options.
Sambo’s
Sambo’s was founded in 1957 and experienced healthy growth on the West Coast. There were over 1,100 locations open by the late 1970s.
The name started to spread to the northeast, where it became quite popular. Although it was famous for the food, most people know Sambo’s for the controversy surrounding its name.
Sambo’s
As you may not have known, the name “Sambo” is a derogatory term. While the company claimed the name was a derivative of the owner’s names combined, it made people uncomfortable and therefore caused everyone to stop dining at the restaurant.
The business went bankrupt and attempted to rebrand themselves multiple times before eventually giving up and shutting down completely. The very last Sambo’s is in Santa Barbara, California.
D’Lites
Most of their competitors, such as McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s, started creating healthier food choices, which left D’Lites lagging.
Although they were miles ahead of the pack as far as non-healthy fast food was concerned, it seems they lacked the foresight to expand their menu to suit the blossoming healthy eating trends. Eventually, the company could no longer keep up with their competition, so one by one, they closed all of their store locations.
Sandy’s
Sandy’s first opened its doors in Central Illinois in 1956, established by four businessmen named Gus "Brick" Lundberg, Robert C. Wenger, Paul White and W. K. Davidson. In the Midwest, Sandy's was the ancestor of the Hardee's chain.
Originally, the four owners wanted to open McDonald’s franchises, but because the area they were going for was too high in traffic (which resulted in higher fees to pay), they decided not to pursue the idea further.