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Halo Burger, formerly known by its full name Bill Thomas' Halo Burger, is is a fast-food restaurant chain based in Genesee County, Michigan, USA. Begun in 1923 as the original Kewpee location and separating from the Kewpee chain in 1967 with two locations, the chain has since grown to eleven locations in the region. All but one of these are located in Genesee County. Halo Burger is the trademark of Dortch Halo Enterprises LLC.

History

Samuel V. Blair opened Kewpee Hotel restaurant in downtown Flint and expanded to approximately 400 locations by 1939 through licensing the name. William "Bill" V. Thomas started working at Kewpee in 1938. Thomas began leasing the Harrison Street, Flint location from Blair upon his retirement on April 1, 1944. Blair died in 1945 and Thomas continued to lease the location and pay royalties for use of the Kewpee name from the estate until the Kewpee trademark and Blair estate owned locations went up for sale in 1958. Thomas was able to purchase the Flint location but the Kewpee trademark was sold to Ed Adams of Toledo, Ohio. Thomas expanded with a second Kewpee location with the purchase of Vernor’s Ginger Ale building in 1951.

Halo Burger

Adams switched from a trademark license of Kewpee to a full franchising arrangement in 1967. Thomas rejected this new arrangement and changed the name of his restaurants to Bill Thomas' Halo Burger. Halo Burgers' first location only under the Halo Burger name opens in 1973 on Linden Road. But during construction, Bill Thomas died that year. In 1976, two more locations join the chain on West Pierson Road and in Grand Blanc. In 1979, the Harrison location was vacated to make way for University of Michigan-Flint parking. The staff of the former Harrison Street location were transferred to a newly opened Halo Burger serving Flint's east side.

The 1980's become a decade of expansion with 10 more location starting in 1984 with another Downtown location. In 1985, Halo Burger expanded to Birch Run, Michigan, with a location that was opened on property leased at Conlee Oil Company's station. Locations in Saginaw and Flint's Southwest side open in 1986. Another location in Saginaw following in 1987 along with the Richfield Road and Genesee Valley Mall location. Three more locations are opened in 1988 in Fenton, at Atherton Road and at Corunna Road near Ballenger Highway.

There Grand Blanc Downtown location closed in 1998 and was replaced by a location in Grand Blanc Township.

On September 5, 2002, Halo Burger takes over the former Campus Cafe at University of Michigan-Flint University Center. In November, the company recalled flashlights that were given out with kid's meals. On July 22 2007, all 11 locations were shut down for a day do to a possible E. coli contamination as their supplier, Abbott's Meat, had recalled a number of meat products and received meat from a temporary supplier. Due to the new student housing and 24-hour food service, Sodexo, that goes along the housing, the University Center location closed April 21, 2008.

Dortch Enterprises

An initial attempt to sell the chain to key employees fell through after issues with the bank. As his son was uninterested in 2010, the Thomas family sold the nine location chain to Dortch Enterprises which operates multiple Subway restaurants in Michigan with the transfer to Dortch on December 29, 2010. Dortch will be expanding to new locations and making over of the restaurants towards a "fast-casual feel" with earth tones and "upscale decor". In 2011, the company announced they are adding locations in the Oakland County/Detroit metro area in late 2012 and that they would be adding 2 to 3 locations per year. While Dortch feels that Halo Burger locations would do well in East Lansing with Michigan State University and Ann Arbor with University of Michigan having Flint area university students, plans for opening in those cities have been put on hold.

In June 2011, the Company broke ground for a new 10th location in Grand Blanc Township on Holly Road. Three other sites have been selected for new locations: Fenton, Lapeer and Lapeer Road, Davison. In October the Holly Road location opened. One opened in a gas station in Mount Morris in February 2012.

Menu

• Q.P.: Original called the Kewpee, its name is a phonetic of that name and has been served since 1923 and of its size, a quarter pound hamburger. The burger consisted of flat bottom bun with deluxe toppings (mayo, lettuce, tomato) originally, and now it includes ketchup, mustard, pickle, onion, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise unless you request it otherwise. This still today remains one of the Halo Burger's most popular sandwiches, especially with olives.

Awards

• 1983 Voted Flint's #1 hamburger by a Flint Journal Newspaper survey
• 2000 Voted Michigan's #1 hamburger by a Detroit News Reader Survey

Timeline

A single founding date for the company is not so easy as the company evolved from Kewpee.

• 1923 - Original Kewpee location opened.
• 1944 - Kewpee employee Thomas acquires the business that would later be named Halo Burger by leasing the original location.
• 1958 - Thomas buys original location, but not the Kewpee name which was sold to Ed Adams of Toledo.
• 1967 - Adams makes Kewpee a franchise operation. Thomas objects and changes the name of his restaurants to Halo Burger.
• 2010 - Halo Burger sold by the Thomas family to Dortch Enterprises.

References

1. ^ Fonger, Ron (March 19, 2012). "Halo Burger opens 11th location in Mt. Morris Township". Flint Journal. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
2. "Contact Us". dortchenterprises.com. Dortch Enterprises, LLC. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
3. ^ Rauschert, Jeff (01/03/2011). "New owner says Halo Burger will stay the same". NBC 25 News. Retrieved 3 June 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
4. ^ Rauschert, Jeff (12.28.2010). "Halo Burger to be sold by Thomas family to Dortch Enterprises". NBC 25 News. Retrieved 3 June 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
5. "Halo Burger". Trademarkia.com. Trademarkia, Inc. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
6. "Trademarks of Dortch Halo Enterprises, LLC". trademarkia.com. Trademarkia, Inc. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
7. Whit Smyth (2010-01-24). "Kewpee Hamburgers - Lima, Ohio". Nation's Restaurant News. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
8. Hogan, David Gerard (1997). Selling 'em by the Sack: White Castle and the Creation of American Food (1st ed.). NYU Press. p. 50. ISBN 0814735673. Retrieved 2008-06-04. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |chapterurl= and |month= (help)
9. ^ "The Halo Burger History". Halo Burger. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
10. ^ Christy Ryan (2008-04-21). "Halo Burger reluctant to leave in fall" (shtml). Michigan Times. Flint, Michigan: University of Michigan-Flint. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
11. "History". About Us. Conlee Oil Company. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
12. Abercrombie, Shena (2002-06-10). "With Halo Burger on campus no excuse for hungry students". The Flint Journal. Archived from the original on 2002-06-10. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
13. Vaughn, Marlon (2002-11-16). "Halo Burger kids meal flashlights recalled". The Flint Journal. Archived from the original on 2002-11-16. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
14. Bach, Matt (July 24, 2007). "Halo Burger restaurants reopen after E. coli concern". The Flint Journal. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
15. Turner, Kris (January 23, 2011). "Halo Burger could expand to Lapeer, Fenton or Davison this year". Flint Journal. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
16. ^ Turner, Kris (January 4, 2011). "New Halo Burger owner keeps old staples, plans for more locations in Genesee County". The Flint Journal. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
17. Yung, Katherine (June 2, 2011). "Flint's Halo Burger chain to debut in metro Detroit in '12". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
18. Rabinowitz, Nyssa (June 22, 2011). "New Halo Burger breaks ground in Grand Blanc Township". Flint Journal. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
19. Rabinowitz, Nyssa (June 23, 2011). "New Halo Burger brings jobs to Grand Blanc, will continue to expand". Flint Journal. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
20. "A new Halo". Grand Blanc View. 2011-11-17. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
21. Allen, Stu (June 20, 2011). "Halo Burger Expanding". WCRZ. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
22. "Number 1". Flint Journal. Flint, Michigan: Booth Newspapers. 1984-02-07. p. C1. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |curly= ignored (help)
23. ^ Dave. "Restaurants of Interest". Cuisine, A Semi-Exhaustive Guide. Frog Leg Productions. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
24. Turner, Kris (December 29, 2010). "Thomas family saddened to hand over Halo Burger". The Flint Journal. Retrieved 5 April 2012.

External links

• Halo Burger's official web site
• Halo Burger's Facebook page
• A Tasty Part of Flint History--The former Vernor's outlet in Flint, MI, now Halo Burger
• Explain history at Kewpee's site

• Fast-food chains of the United States
• Regional restaurant chains in the United States
• Fast-food hamburger restaurants
• Economy of Flint, Michigan
• Restaurants in Michigan
• Restaurants established in 1923
• Companies based in Genesee County, Michigan