Taco Tico is a chain of Tex-Mex cuisine fast-food restaurants. This establishment serves tacos, tostadas, nachos, enchiladas, burritos, refried beans, quesadillas, taco burgers, and sanchos available for dine-in, take-out, or drive-thru. Dan Foley opened the first Taco Tico in 1962, in his native Wichita, Kansas. He began franchising new locations in 1967. The company kept expanding and also added more items to the menu, which originally just offered tacos and nachos, and was a regional hit by 1980.
In 1988, Foley sold the company and chain to a former executive from KFC. The meat recipe, which gave Taco Tico tacos their unique flavor, was changed at that time. most likely as a result of corporate influence, in an effort to lower costs. The meat, at that time, was sent in frozen tubes, from the home office. The flavoring was shown to be unpopular and Taco Tico has since switched back to the original flavoring.
Expansion continued and locations are throughout the Midwest and Southeastern states. Taco Tico developed 4 distinctive taco sauces (mild, medium, hot, and volcano) in 1971 and continues to use them today. They also offer a green chili sauce. Newer buildings are adobe with teal-green and orange awnings, signs, and trim.
Del Taco, Inc. prides itself on being the second largest Mexican concept fast food chain in the United States. It is also one of the most consistently successful of all fast food companies, registering thirteen consecutive years of sales growth between 1990 and 2003. The chain has approximately 415 outlets in the United States, with a presence in most states west of the Mississippi as well as some on the Atlantic coast. Many are open 24 hours a day. Although its specialty is Mexican fast food, such as tacos and burritos, Del Taco also serves hamburgers, French fries and shakes, as well as offering a breakfast menu. Unlike many other fast food chains that simply reheat meat and other ingredients that have been prepared elsewhere and frozen, Del Taco restaurants prepare all the food completely onsite. Del Taco restaurants reported average annual sales of $1 million per store in 2003, near the top of the industry.
In 1999, Del Taco launched a major series of television ads that portrayed a western hero named "Del Taco." Based on the Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns of the 1970s, "Del Taco" was an underdog character--much like the restaurant Del Taco with respect to industry giant Taco Bell. The spots were popular, but just a month after they started running Del Taco was hit by a lawsuit from Zorro Productions Inc. and Tristar Pictures Inc., who claimed the "Del Taco" character--masked and costumed in black--infringed on their rights to the trademarked Zorro figure. Del Taco settled the suit in January 2000, agreeing to make changes in the Del Taco character, but soon discontinued the ad campaign altogether. Two years later, Shaquille O'Neal filed a similar suit against the chain, claiming that "Shaq Johnson," a character in Del Taco radio ads, violated his registered "Shaq" trademark. Those ads were also discontinued.
In 2000, Del Taco had 372 stores located in ten states. The chain had had remarkable per-store sales growth throughout the 1990s. Total annual sales had reached about $319 million. In 2000, the average unit had $927,000 in sales, one of the tops in the fast food industry, beating out giant rival Taco Bell by almost $10,000 per store. In 2001, Nation's Restaurant News reported that Del Taco had the largest average sales volume per store of any chain in the sandwich category, a remarkable achievement for a Mexican food chain, which traditionally ranked low in average sales. The chain had recently begun a major expansion into Arizona and Las Vegas. In areas where Del Taco stores were located, the chain was taking customers away from Taco Bell, which suffered a setback when a supermarket taco shell that licensed its name turned out to contain genetically modified corn used for animal feed. An important deal was signed in late 2000 with the Compass Group PLC that enabled Del Taco stores to open on military bases. The first to do business was the store at Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland in early 2001. Others were planned for bases in Puerto Rico, Naples, and Italy.
In February 2002, a group of former Del Taco employees, all of whom were black, brought a discrimination suit against the chain. The group claimed that while working at Del Taco restaurants in the Los Angeles area they had suffered verbal harassment, had been passed over for promotions in favor of Hispanic workers, and were being fired and replaced by illegal immigrants. The case had not been settled in mid-2003.
In a further effort to raise its public profile, Del Taco launched a sports-sponsorship program with teams in eight states, including the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and Phoenix Coyotes hockey teams, basketball's Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz, the University of Nevada at Las Vegas's football and basketball teams, and minor league hockey and baseball teams. The campaign was designed to attract what the chain considered a core demographic segment, men between the ages of 18 and 34. The deal placed the Del Taco logo on signs, drink cups, and special promotional items at the stadiums of the partner teams.
In early 2003, Del Taco announced that it had reached a landmark in 2002: its free-standing restaurants topped $1 million per store in average annual sales. The achievement was all the more remarkable considering that a fast food price war had driven down average sales at other chains, notably McDonald's and Carls' Jr., while Del Taco registered a 2.2 percent increase. It was the thirteenth consecutive year of sales increases reported by the company. At the same time, the firm continued to expand, moving slowly into Texas, Montana, and Washington state.
Principal Competitors: Taco Bell; McDonald's Corporation; Burger King Corporation; Carl's Jr.
In February 1988, businessman Anwar Soliman pulled off a coup that created the nation's second-largest Mexican fast food chain and the main competitor to leader Taco Bell. For an undisclosed amount of cash, Soliman acquired both Del Taco and its 202 restaurants and the Naugles chain of 171 Mexican fast food outlets founded by one-time Del Taco partner Dick Naugles in the early 1970s. Soliman, already the owner of several restaurant chains--including Black Angus, Grandy's, Spoons, and Velvet Turtle--had his own history with Del Taco: as president of the W.R Grace Restaurant Group in 1977 he had been the mastermind behind the purchase of the rights to expand Del Taco throughout the United States.
Naugles and Del Taco were merged into Soliman's new company, AWR II Acquisition Corp. Once in possession of Del Taco, Soliman began buying out Del Taco's numerous limited partners. Soliman's acquisition of the two companies was made possible in large part by about $211 million in credit from General Electric Corporation's financial services subsidiary GE Capital, which held a controlling interest in AWR II. One year after the purchase, Soliman began the conversion of most of the Naugles restaurants to Del Taco units.
Soliman's ambitious plan to create a second national taco chain was not fully realized, however. In January 1990, a Del Taco management group purchased the company for an undisclosed sum of cash, debt, and securities. Soliman's failure was reportedly his push to position Del Taco both as a strong competitor to Taco Bell and to remake the chain as a more upscale restaurant, contradictory moves that confused consumers. Laying off key field managers and cutting back on Del Taco's advertising budget also contributed to the firm's problems under Soliman. One of the first moves by the new owner-management was to cut prices to match Taco Bell's successful 59 cent menu and regain the business of value-conscious diners. Servicing the considerable debt Soliman had taken on to buy the two chains had played a major role in his company's problems. Although sales at the chain remained flat during 1988 and 1989, dropping but slightly from $211.7 million to $211.0 million, the $50,000 each store had to make in annual payments to reduce the debt made it virtually impossible to turn a profit. The lower prices inaugurated by the chain made it difficult for many Del Taco stores to operate in the black even after the debt was refinanced. GE Capital, which may have orchestrated the buyout, continued to play a major role in the company and was given three positions on the board but no shareholder interest. In June 1990, GE Capital pressured Del Taco to close 80 outlets which were unprofitable.
On the East Coast, W.R. Grace & Co. was still trying to sell off the other Del Taco. Del Taco Restaurants, Inc. had become a publicly held firm traded as DETA on the NASDAQ and Grace was gradually buying up all outstanding DETA shares in order to more easily find a buyer for the 79 Del Taco restaurants and 36 Taco Villa outlets it owned in Georgia, Texas, and other states. By September 1991, it had spent about $5 million to acquire 100 percent ownership of the chains. In March 1992, Grace sold all of its Del Taco and Taco Villa restaurants to Taco Bell, which planned to convert them to its own brand and format.
Statistics:
Private Company
Founded: 1964
Employees: 5,700
Sales: $388 million (2002)
NAIC: 722110 Full-Service Restaurants
Key Dates:
1961: Ed Hackbarth opens the first Casa Del Taco store in Yermo, California.
1966: Hackbarth, David Jameson, and Dick Naugles found Red-E-Food Systems, Inc.
1973: Red-E-Food Systems, Inc. is renamed Del Taco, Inc.
1976: Hackbarth and Jameson sell Del Taco.
1977: New owners sell exclusive rights to use and develop the Del Taco brand outside California to W.R. Grace & Co., which forms Del Taco Restaurants Inc. in Dallas and incorporates it into DTG Inc, its fast food subsidiary.
1986: Del Taco is unable to repurchase national rights from W.R. Grace.
1988: Anwar Soliman purchases Del Taco and Naugles restaurants and merges them into single chain of Mexican fast food restaurants.
1990: Del Taco is purchased from Anwar Soliman by Del Taco management; Kevin Moriarty joins Del Taco as chief executive officer.
1992: W.R. Grace sells Del Taco Restaurants Inc. to Taco Bell and resells rights to Del Taco name to Del Taco, Inc.
1993: Del Taco seeks protection under Chapter 11, and a management team led by Kevin Moriarty buys Del Taco from GE Capital.
1996: Del Taco's world headquarters settles in Laguna Hills.
2003: Del Taco outlets top $1 million in annual average sales.
Address:
25521 Commercentre Drive
Lake Forest, California 92630
U.S.A.
In 1988, Foley sold the company and chain to a former executive from KFC. The meat recipe, which gave Taco Tico tacos their unique flavor, was changed at that time. most likely as a result of corporate influence, in an effort to lower costs. The meat, at that time, was sent in frozen tubes, from the home office. The flavoring was shown to be unpopular and Taco Tico has since switched back to the original flavoring.
Expansion continued and locations are throughout the Midwest and Southeastern states. Taco Tico developed 4 distinctive taco sauces (mild, medium, hot, and volcano) in 1971 and continues to use them today. They also offer a green chili sauce. Newer buildings are adobe with teal-green and orange awnings, signs, and trim.
Del Taco, Inc. prides itself on being the second largest Mexican concept fast food chain in the United States. It is also one of the most consistently successful of all fast food companies, registering thirteen consecutive years of sales growth between 1990 and 2003. The chain has approximately 415 outlets in the United States, with a presence in most states west of the Mississippi as well as some on the Atlantic coast. Many are open 24 hours a day. Although its specialty is Mexican fast food, such as tacos and burritos, Del Taco also serves hamburgers, French fries and shakes, as well as offering a breakfast menu. Unlike many other fast food chains that simply reheat meat and other ingredients that have been prepared elsewhere and frozen, Del Taco restaurants prepare all the food completely onsite. Del Taco restaurants reported average annual sales of $1 million per store in 2003, near the top of the industry.
In 1999, Del Taco launched a major series of television ads that portrayed a western hero named "Del Taco." Based on the Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns of the 1970s, "Del Taco" was an underdog character--much like the restaurant Del Taco with respect to industry giant Taco Bell. The spots were popular, but just a month after they started running Del Taco was hit by a lawsuit from Zorro Productions Inc. and Tristar Pictures Inc., who claimed the "Del Taco" character--masked and costumed in black--infringed on their rights to the trademarked Zorro figure. Del Taco settled the suit in January 2000, agreeing to make changes in the Del Taco character, but soon discontinued the ad campaign altogether. Two years later, Shaquille O'Neal filed a similar suit against the chain, claiming that "Shaq Johnson," a character in Del Taco radio ads, violated his registered "Shaq" trademark. Those ads were also discontinued.
In 2000, Del Taco had 372 stores located in ten states. The chain had had remarkable per-store sales growth throughout the 1990s. Total annual sales had reached about $319 million. In 2000, the average unit had $927,000 in sales, one of the tops in the fast food industry, beating out giant rival Taco Bell by almost $10,000 per store. In 2001, Nation's Restaurant News reported that Del Taco had the largest average sales volume per store of any chain in the sandwich category, a remarkable achievement for a Mexican food chain, which traditionally ranked low in average sales. The chain had recently begun a major expansion into Arizona and Las Vegas. In areas where Del Taco stores were located, the chain was taking customers away from Taco Bell, which suffered a setback when a supermarket taco shell that licensed its name turned out to contain genetically modified corn used for animal feed. An important deal was signed in late 2000 with the Compass Group PLC that enabled Del Taco stores to open on military bases. The first to do business was the store at Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland in early 2001. Others were planned for bases in Puerto Rico, Naples, and Italy.
In February 2002, a group of former Del Taco employees, all of whom were black, brought a discrimination suit against the chain. The group claimed that while working at Del Taco restaurants in the Los Angeles area they had suffered verbal harassment, had been passed over for promotions in favor of Hispanic workers, and were being fired and replaced by illegal immigrants. The case had not been settled in mid-2003.
In a further effort to raise its public profile, Del Taco launched a sports-sponsorship program with teams in eight states, including the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and Phoenix Coyotes hockey teams, basketball's Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz, the University of Nevada at Las Vegas's football and basketball teams, and minor league hockey and baseball teams. The campaign was designed to attract what the chain considered a core demographic segment, men between the ages of 18 and 34. The deal placed the Del Taco logo on signs, drink cups, and special promotional items at the stadiums of the partner teams.
In early 2003, Del Taco announced that it had reached a landmark in 2002: its free-standing restaurants topped $1 million per store in average annual sales. The achievement was all the more remarkable considering that a fast food price war had driven down average sales at other chains, notably McDonald's and Carls' Jr., while Del Taco registered a 2.2 percent increase. It was the thirteenth consecutive year of sales increases reported by the company. At the same time, the firm continued to expand, moving slowly into Texas, Montana, and Washington state.
Principal Competitors: Taco Bell; McDonald's Corporation; Burger King Corporation; Carl's Jr.
In February 1988, businessman Anwar Soliman pulled off a coup that created the nation's second-largest Mexican fast food chain and the main competitor to leader Taco Bell. For an undisclosed amount of cash, Soliman acquired both Del Taco and its 202 restaurants and the Naugles chain of 171 Mexican fast food outlets founded by one-time Del Taco partner Dick Naugles in the early 1970s. Soliman, already the owner of several restaurant chains--including Black Angus, Grandy's, Spoons, and Velvet Turtle--had his own history with Del Taco: as president of the W.R Grace Restaurant Group in 1977 he had been the mastermind behind the purchase of the rights to expand Del Taco throughout the United States.
Naugles and Del Taco were merged into Soliman's new company, AWR II Acquisition Corp. Once in possession of Del Taco, Soliman began buying out Del Taco's numerous limited partners. Soliman's acquisition of the two companies was made possible in large part by about $211 million in credit from General Electric Corporation's financial services subsidiary GE Capital, which held a controlling interest in AWR II. One year after the purchase, Soliman began the conversion of most of the Naugles restaurants to Del Taco units.
Soliman's ambitious plan to create a second national taco chain was not fully realized, however. In January 1990, a Del Taco management group purchased the company for an undisclosed sum of cash, debt, and securities. Soliman's failure was reportedly his push to position Del Taco both as a strong competitor to Taco Bell and to remake the chain as a more upscale restaurant, contradictory moves that confused consumers. Laying off key field managers and cutting back on Del Taco's advertising budget also contributed to the firm's problems under Soliman. One of the first moves by the new owner-management was to cut prices to match Taco Bell's successful 59 cent menu and regain the business of value-conscious diners. Servicing the considerable debt Soliman had taken on to buy the two chains had played a major role in his company's problems. Although sales at the chain remained flat during 1988 and 1989, dropping but slightly from $211.7 million to $211.0 million, the $50,000 each store had to make in annual payments to reduce the debt made it virtually impossible to turn a profit. The lower prices inaugurated by the chain made it difficult for many Del Taco stores to operate in the black even after the debt was refinanced. GE Capital, which may have orchestrated the buyout, continued to play a major role in the company and was given three positions on the board but no shareholder interest. In June 1990, GE Capital pressured Del Taco to close 80 outlets which were unprofitable.
On the East Coast, W.R. Grace & Co. was still trying to sell off the other Del Taco. Del Taco Restaurants, Inc. had become a publicly held firm traded as DETA on the NASDAQ and Grace was gradually buying up all outstanding DETA shares in order to more easily find a buyer for the 79 Del Taco restaurants and 36 Taco Villa outlets it owned in Georgia, Texas, and other states. By September 1991, it had spent about $5 million to acquire 100 percent ownership of the chains. In March 1992, Grace sold all of its Del Taco and Taco Villa restaurants to Taco Bell, which planned to convert them to its own brand and format.
Statistics:
Private Company
Founded: 1964
Employees: 5,700
Sales: $388 million (2002)
NAIC: 722110 Full-Service Restaurants
Key Dates:
1961: Ed Hackbarth opens the first Casa Del Taco store in Yermo, California.
1966: Hackbarth, David Jameson, and Dick Naugles found Red-E-Food Systems, Inc.
1973: Red-E-Food Systems, Inc. is renamed Del Taco, Inc.
1976: Hackbarth and Jameson sell Del Taco.
1977: New owners sell exclusive rights to use and develop the Del Taco brand outside California to W.R. Grace & Co., which forms Del Taco Restaurants Inc. in Dallas and incorporates it into DTG Inc, its fast food subsidiary.
1986: Del Taco is unable to repurchase national rights from W.R. Grace.
1988: Anwar Soliman purchases Del Taco and Naugles restaurants and merges them into single chain of Mexican fast food restaurants.
1990: Del Taco is purchased from Anwar Soliman by Del Taco management; Kevin Moriarty joins Del Taco as chief executive officer.
1992: W.R. Grace sells Del Taco Restaurants Inc. to Taco Bell and resells rights to Del Taco name to Del Taco, Inc.
1993: Del Taco seeks protection under Chapter 11, and a management team led by Kevin Moriarty buys Del Taco from GE Capital.
1996: Del Taco's world headquarters settles in Laguna Hills.
2003: Del Taco outlets top $1 million in annual average sales.
Address:
25521 Commercentre Drive
Lake Forest, California 92630
U.S.A.