Roy Rogers, once a fast-food powerhouse with more than 600 restaurants in the U.S., plans to return to the Philadelphia area for the first time in decades with the opening of a franchise store in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
The rodeo-themed burger and fried chicken chain has been making a gradual comeback in the Mid-Atlantic region in recent years. The Roy Rogers coming to 614 Haddonfield Road is expected to open in the spring. It is replacing the PDQ restaurant that closed there last year.
MORE : Wells Fargo Center works with local artists to make custom gifts for each performer. Here's what visiting stars got. Roy Rogers currently has fewer than 40 locations, mostly in Maryland and Virginia.
Its seven restaurants in Pennsylvania are all at travel plazas outside the Philly area. The closest is off the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Elverson, about a 1-hour drive from the city in western Chester County. New Jersey has two Roy Rogers in the shore towns of Brick Township and Pine Beach.
"We've received an overwhelming number of requests from loyal Roy Rogers fans for a location in this area, and we're delighted to make it a reality," Joe Briglia, Roy Rogers' director of real estate and franchise development, said in a press release. The first Roy Rogers opened in Falls Church, Virginia in 1968. The chain had been called RoBee's and was owned by Marriott Corp.
, which was sued by roast beef chain Arby's because of the similarity in name. Marriott then made a deal with the actor Roy Rogers.
