CINCINNATI — A clash of Big Boy titans is shaping up in six Cincinnati neighborhoods, where a Michigan-based restaurant chain is looking for general managers, shift leaders, servers and buffet attendants to compete in closed Frisch’s Restaurant locations.
Details about a pending Greater Cincinnati invasion by a rival Big Boy chain near Detroit have been trickling out of securities filings and court records in recent weeks. The new owners of Frisch’s surviving locations, operating under the name FBB IP LLC, are suing to defend their turf against Big Boy Restaurant Group LLC, also known as BBRG.
Neither company has publicly identified specific locations involved in the fray, but the WCPO 9 I-Team has compiled a list of likely sites based on addresses and zip codes included in the Michigan company’s job postings.
Those locations are:
- 7706 Beechmont Ave in Union Township
- 4227 Bridgetown Road in Green Township
- 9070 Plainfield Road in Blue Ash
- 12150 Mason Montgomery Rd Symmes Township
- 5202 Delhi Rd in Delhi Township
- 9830 Colerain Ave in Colerain Township
While the court case progresses, many are wondering how the two companies will compete against each other.
"It'll be interesting," said Xavier University Marketing Professor Scott Beck. "I think there’s going to be some confusion between Frisch’s Big Boy and the (Michigan) Big Boy. I think people will recognize that they’re different. But at the core, they’re so similar to each other. The menu selection is largely the same."
Beck thinks Frisch's will have an advantage as the incumbent Big Boy, while its Michigan rival could pick up new customers from Frisch's customers who weren't happy with the iconic chain's downward slide.
Other hints about the looming fight come from Frisch's former landlord.
Watch a full breakdown of Frisch's vs. Big Boy in the player below:
Michigan Big Boy gets a rent discount
On Feb. 11, NNN REIT Inc. told investors the company has arranged for another restaurant chain to move into more than two dozen Frisch’s locations by May 1. The Orlando, Fla. -based company owned 64 Frisch’s locations and sued to evict the Atlanta-based restaurant chain from all of them, starting last fall.
“As of year-end, we had possession of 33 stores,” Chief Financial Officer Kevin Habicht told Wall Street analysts in the Feb. 11 earnings call. “Of those 33 stores, we've re-leased 28 (closed Frisch’s locations) to another restaurant operator.”
Habicht didn’t name the operator, but Frisch’s new owner did – in a Feb. 14 lawsuit that accused the Michigan Big Boy of invading its Ohio territory.
“BBRG has opportunistically and unlawfully seized on Frisch’s hard times as a pretext to ignore new Frisch’s federally protected trademark rights to exclusively operate restaurants within Frisch’s territory under the Big Boy name,” the complaint states. “BBRG seeks to reopen the restaurants recently closed by Frisch’s, in what is now new Frisch’s exclusive territory, under BBRG’s confusingly similar Big Boy name.”
The lawsuit seeks an injunction to prevent the Michigan company’s use of the Big Boy name in Frisch’s territory, which includes Indiana, Kentucky, most of Ohio and parts of Tennessee.
The complaint did not identify any Ohio locations where its Michigan rival plans to use the Big Boy name. But the Michigan company offers some answers in its job postings. Its website lists 23 jobs available in Beechmont, Blue Ash, Colerain and Delhi, while Indeed.com lists 51 Big Boy restaurant jobs available in Cincinnati, Miamisburg, Troy and Middleburg Heights, Ohio.
The I-Team compared zip codes in job listings to its list of Frisch’s locations closed by eviction. That led to six locations where BBRG will likely compete against still-open Frisch’s restaurants by May 1, unless a federal judge calls off the fight as a trademark violation.
Big Boy has a girlfriend?
The court case is itself a tussle for the ages.
The two companies and their predecessors have shared the Big Boy name without acrimony for decades. But that changed in November, when Frisch’s publicly announced two of its longtime managers “acquired multiple locations and future development rights of the brand.”
It also notified the Michigan company that it would transfer Frisch’s trademarks and international property rights to FBB IP as part of the deal.
The Michigan company objected, claiming the transfer violated past agreements between the company’s predecessors. In a series of letters, the two sides traded accusations and sparred over legal rights.
“Our client will now also be placed on unfavorable payment terms as a result of Frisch's damage to the reputation of Big Boy, which has adversely affected the Big Boy brand name - due to Frisch's inability to pay its debts,” wrote an attorney for the Michigan chain to a Frisch’s attorney on Nov. 11.
“Your client is currently being sued by its master landlord for various defaults, including failure to maintain properties, failure to pay taxes, and failure to continuously operate,” a Frisch’s attorney responded on Nov. 27.
In the meantime, the new Frisch’s owners hired a private investigator to look into job postings in which the Michigan company sought restaurant staff for a concept called Dolly’s Burgers and Shakes.
“The character Dolly has existed in the Big Boy universe for decades (she is the Big Boy character’s girlfriend),” said the lawsuit. “BBRG has a separate trademark registration for ‘The Dolly Chicken Sandwich,’ which was registered in 2021.”
The investigator, Kelly Cory, used a pseudonym to apply for an assistant manager position. On Jan. 30, a hiring manager for the Michigan company told Cory the job was for a closed Frisch’s restaurant at 9830 Colerain Ave and the new store would operate as “Big Boy and not Frisch’s.”
In an affidavit filed with Frisch’s lawsuit, Cory said the Michigan-based owners planned to hire staff in February and open in March. That seems unlikely, given that NNN REIT told investors it won’t start collecting rent from its new tenant until May 1.
But when the rent payments start flowing, they’ll be half the size of Frisch’s required rent payments in the months leading up to last year’s evictions.
“They only paid us half the rent owed us in the 3rd quarter last year, and they paid us no rent in the fourth quarter,” CFO Habicht told analysts on Feb. 11. “Because we had a read on prior store sales for these properties and also in order to speed up the leasing process on a large group of properties, we were willing to trade off some base rent for more potential percentage rent.”
Habicht said the new tenant will pay $2.8 million in annual base rent on the 28 stores it leases from NNN REIT, but it will also pay “7% of store sales above a fixed breakpoint.” That, combined with higher rents on 36 former Frisch’s locations that NNN REIT has yet to sell or re-lease, should enable the landlord to reclaim more than 70% of the lost revenue from Frisch’s evictions.
Other differences between the chains include the secret sauce they put on Big Boy double deckers. The Michigan chain’s “famous” sauce has mayonnaise and pickles like Frisch’s, but adds horseradish, catsup and Tobasco sauce for an extra kick. The Michiganders also offer a Slim Jim sauce with mayo and Miracle Whip that it serves on a grilled ham and swiss sandwich. And they also sell the Dolly Chicken Sandwich, made with fried chicken, pickles and tartar sauce on a brioche bun.
Source: Library of Congress
Big Boy statues are another point of difference. The Michigan chain uses the iconic pose established by founder Bob Wian at the first Big Boy restaurant in California: A portly waiter in red-checker overalls with a double-deck burger held aloft by his right hand. The Frisch’s statue, redesigned in 2017, sports a Frisch’s cap and turned-up cuff on the overalls. It holds the burger shoulder high in the left hand.
Of the two statues, the Michigan version is more famous. It was turned into a spaceship by Dr. Evil in the 1997 movie, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.
The brand's rich history will increase the stakes for these restaurant rivals. Beck thinks Frisch's will lose the court fight but win the battle for Big Boy market share, if it courts loyal customers now with discount offers and store upgrades.
"As a Cincinnatian, I want Frisch’s to survive," Beck said. "It is one of those iconic Cincinnati brands. But they have their work cut out for them."
