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Boston Market

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Boston Market

Boston Market Corporation, known as Boston Chicken until 1995, is an American fast casual restaurant chain headquartered in Newtown Township, Pennsylvania. Since 2020, it has been owned by Engage Brands, LLC, a company of Rohan Group. From 1985 to 1995, Boston Market was known as Boston Chicken, which rapidly expanded to over a thousand locations. By the late 1990s, the chain filed for bankruptcy and closed many stores until a few hundred remained. McDonald's purchased the chain in 2000. It was sold again in 2007, then in 2020. As of November 2020, the chain had approximately 342 company-owned restaurant locations in 28 states and Puerto Rico. In the 2020s the chain encountered legal troubles and went into a rapid decline to end 2024 with only 16 remaining stores. At its peak, Boston Market had its greatest presence in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States, as well as California, Florida, and Texas.

Boston Market is remembered for helping to popularize rotisserie chickens as well as fast casual dining, which both remain popular nationally. Initially known for rotisserie chicken, the chain later branched out into other meats including turkey, meatloaf, and ham. A typical Boston Market meal had a protein with a few sides such as potatoes, creamed spinach, or mac & cheese, and was accompanied by a piece of corn bread. Stores sometimes had seasonal specials and also sold sandwiches. Frozen meals and side dishes continued to be sold nationally under the Boston Market brand name in food markets.

Boston Chicken was founded by Steven Kolow and Arthur Cores in 1985 in Newton, a suburb of Boston. The chain expanded rapidly in the early and mid-1990s.

When it was known as Boston Chicken, restaurants specialized in rotisserie chicken and a variety of side dishes, but in February 1995, the chain expanded its menu to include turkey, meatloaf, and ham and changed the name to Boston Market in the fall of 1995 to reflect this. The corporate name remained Boston Chicken, Inc. until 1997, when the new name became popular and the corporate name was changed to Boston Market Corporation.

In 1995, Boston Chicken created the Einstein Bros. Bagels chain of bakery cafés, after acquiring several smaller chains of bagel-centric bakeries.

In 1996, the chain launched "Boston Carver Sandwiches", which featured chicken, turkey, ham, and meatloaf; in 1997, due to the success of the sandwich line, "Extreme Carver" sandwiches, filled with larger portions of meat and cheese, were launched.

The company raised a lot of debt to finance its expansion. The rapid expansion allowed the company to create a steady stream of revenue from one-time development fees and increasing royalties, but also raised interest rates on its development loans. In 1998, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Since April 1999, a selection of Boston Market-branded items have been available in many supermarkets across the United States.

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