Burger King (Alberta)

{{About|a burger restaurant in Alberta|the unaffiliated chain of fast food restaurants|Burger King}}{{short description|Former Canadian restaurant chain}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Burger King

| logo = BurgerKingEdmontonLogo.svg

| logo_size =

| logo_alt =

| logo_caption =

| logo_padding =

| image =

| image_size =

| image_alt =

| image_caption =

| trade_name = Burger King Drive Inn

| former_name = Burger King/Kentucky Fried Chicken

| type =

| ISIN =

| industry = Restaurants

| genre =

| fate = Defunct

| predecessor =

| successor = Burger Baron
KFC

| founded = {{start date and age|1956}} in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

| founder = William R. Jarvis, James Duncan Rae

| defunct = {{end date and age|1995}}

| hq_location =

| hq_location_city =

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| num_locations = 12

| num_locations_year = 1975

| area_served =

| products = Fast food (hamburgers, chicken)

}}

File:Burger Baron building.jpg

Burger King was a fast food restaurant chain in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Also known as Burger King Drive-Inn, it was founded by former Imperial Oil executives William R. Jarvis (1926-21 July 2014)

{{cite web

| url = http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/edmontonjournal/obituary.aspx?pid=171853337

| title = William R. Jarvis obituary

|author=

| date = 25 July 2014

| website = Legacy.com

| publisher = Edmonton Journal

| access-date = 17 January 2017

| quote = }}

and James Duncan Rae (3 September 1923 - 17 December 2014)

{{cite web

| url = http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/edmontonjournal/obituary.aspx?pid=173581334

| title = James Duncan Rae obituary

|author=

| date = 24 December 2014

| website = Legacy.com

| publisher = Edmonton Journal

| access-date = 17 January 2017

| quote = }}

in 1956. Among the first American-style fast food restaurants in Edmonton, it was not related to the worldwide Burger King chain. Company headquarters were in offices above one of the restaurants, at 9501 111 Avenue. Its signature items included a mushroom burger and a "Canadian Burger".

The restaurant was inspired by a visit Jarvis paid to Great Falls, Montana in 1953, when he stayed next to a Dairy Queen drive-in. After the chain turned down his request for a franchise, he and Rae formed their own Dairy Drive-In at 8705 118 Avenue. Two years later, when their lease expired, they hauled the building to a site at 112 Avenue, where it would become the first Burger King.{{cite web|author=Herzog|first=Lawrence|date=1 March 2012|title='Hop' to It|url=http://www.edmontonhistory.ca/prelaunch/citycalledhome/remember/i_page.php?SSKey=5129&SectionKey=241&ScreenKey=2320|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/1830/20120301221211/http://www.edmontonhistory.ca/prelaunch/citycalledhome/remember/i_page.php?SSKey=5129&SectionKey=241&ScreenKey=2320|archive-date=1 March 2012|access-date=2 January 2020|website=edmontonhistory.ca|publisher=University of Alberta Archive}} It opened one year before the first outlet of what would become its main rival, A&W.

Jarvis and Rae acquired the rights to sell the then little-known Kentucky Fried Chicken in 1959. Many of their Burger King restaurants were dual-branded as "Burger King/Kentucky Fried Chicken". Chicken sales were slow at first, but by the mid-1960s, Edmonton had KFC's highest per capita sales in Canada.{{cite web|author=Herzog|first=Lawrence|date=15 January 2004|title=Edmonton's original burger kings|url=https://www.lawrenceherzog.net/post/edmonton-s-original-burger-kings|access-date=24 January 2021|website=lawrenceherzog.net|archive-date=31 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131015518/https://www.lawrenceherzog.net/post/edmonton-s-original-burger-kings|url-status=dead}}

In the mid-1960s, the US Burger King chain planned to expand to Canada, where Jarvis and Rae had trademarked the name. In 1965-66, they reached an agreement that granted their rival the rights to the "Burger King" name for all of Canada except Alberta north of the 52nd parallel, passing through Innisfail, which was reserved in perpetuity for the local chain.{{cite tweet |user=CBCEdmonton |number=1030204214797115392 |date=2018-08-16 |author=Noel McNaughton |title= From the Archives: Help Yourself, August 12, 1987}} The US chain entered the Canadian market in 1969 with a store in Windsor, Ontario.{{cite press release|title=Burger King Canada Franchise |url=http://www.burgerking.ca/en/View.aspx?uid=TopMenu_Franchise |publisher=Burger King Corporation |accessdate=6 October 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706170317/http://www.burgerking.ca/en/View.aspx?uid=TopMenu_Franchise |archivedate=6 July 2011 }}

By 1975, when McDonald's opened its first Edmonton restaurant near Capilano Mall, Burger King had 12 outlets. As the market became more competitive, the relationship between Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken deteriorated, with KFC attempting legal action to end the partnership.{{cite web

| url = http://caselaw.canada.globe24h.com/0/0/alberta/court-of-appeal/1976/05/06/col-sanders-kentucky-fried-chicken-ltd-v-burger-king-drive-in-1976-altascad-94.shtml

| title = Col. Sanders Kentucky Fried Chicken Ltd. v. Burger King Drive In, 1976 ALTASCAD 94

| author =

| date = 6 May 1976

| website = caselaw.canada.globe24h.com

| publisher = Supreme Court of Alberta Appellate Division

| access-date = 17 January 2017

| quote =

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170118032119/http://caselaw.canada.globe24h.com/0/0/alberta/court-of-appeal/1976/05/06/col-sanders-kentucky-fried-chicken-ltd-v-burger-king-drive-in-1976-altascad-94.shtml

| archive-date = 18 January 2017

| url-status = dead

}} The matter was ultimately resolved in 1990, when KFC, by then under the ownership of PepsiCo, refused to extend the franchise, and Jarvis and Rae instead sold their remaining dual-branded restaurants to them.

In August 1995, when two non-KFC Burger King restaurants were still in operation, they sold the naming rights for northern Alberta for $1 million to the US company.

{{cite news

| title = Whopper-less no more

| last= Pike

| first= Leigh Anne

| date = 18 September 1995

| work = Alberta Report

| issn = 0225-0519

| volume = 22

| issue = 40

| page = 16

}}

It immediately announced its intention to enter the market, the last region of North America where it had been unable to operate,{{cite web

| url = https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Burger+King+Corp.+announces+plans+to+expand+in+Edmonton,+Alberta.-a017271669

| title = Burger King Corp. announces plans to expand in Edmonton, Alberta.

| author =

| date = 28 August 1995

| website = thefreelibrary.com

| publisher = Business Wire

| access-date = 17 January 2017

| quote =

| archive-date = 2 October 2018

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181002225115/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Burger+King+Corp.+announces+plans+to+expand+in+Edmonton,+Alberta.-a017271669

| url-status = dead

}} other than Mattoon, Illinois, where another restaurant uses the name.

Several Burger King restaurants became Burger Barons.