Harland Sanders was a 65 year old restauranteur who had run a successful restaurant in Corbin, KY, on the main road between Cincinnati and Atlanta.
However, he had patented a technique for making fried chicken that made it crispy on the outside but not dry on the inside. Armed with his patent, he went to restaurants to offer the technology in return for a percentage of chicken sales. He finally found a taker in South Salt Lake, Utah in 1952.
Sanders was already famous in Kentucky and the governor had made him an honorary colonel in 1950. He bought the famous white suit and string tie and as part of the chicken deal he allowed franchises to use his likeness. However, the name “Kentucky Fried Chicken” was invented by his Utah franchisee. The franchisee also coined the phrase “Finger lickin’ good”.
However, in 1959, his original restaurant ran into trouble. The recent completion of Interstate 75 meant his location was no longer attractive. He sold the land and with his pension and savings, turned to selling franchises instead.
From there things went well. Sanders went to Canada as well and met up with the owner of Scott’s restaurants, a buffet chain. The chicken was a hit and the owners of Scott’s came up with the idea of using the name and Sanders persona to sell the chicken in Canada. For a long time, Scott’s was the only franchisor in Canada.
Sanders was getting too old to handle the expansion as he was serving over 600 franchise locations by 1964. He sold out the American interest to a group of New York businessmen, but kept running the Canadian operation until his death in 1980. For the last 15 years of his life, his regular residence was a modest house in Mississauga, Ontario, although he travelled frequently to the US as a paid consultant for the US chain.
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