Kenny Rogers Roasters

John Y. Brown Jr., a business entrepreneur from the commonwealth of Kentucky had worked with the restaurant chains KFC and Lum's. After having served as governor of Kentucky from 1979 to 1983, Brown decided to return to the restaurant business. He chose to start a chicken restaurant in Coral Springs, Florida, in 1991, forming a partnership with country music singer Kenny Rogers who had previously released his own cook book. The first store opened in September 1991, and Rogers himself was present at the opening. Kenny Rogers Roasters was one of several restaurants to open in southern Florida that year, owing to the popularity of grilled chicken both in that particular market and nationwide.

By 1995, the menu had expanded to include turkey, ribs, and various side dishes. The chain eventually grew to over 350 restaurants, including locations in Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Kenny Rogers Roasters found itself in competition with Boston Chicken (later Boston Market) and several smaller roasted chicken chains. Kentucky Fried Chicken also introduced a roasted chicken line of products called Rotisserie Gold to compete with Roasters and Boston Chicken. In December 1992, Clucker's, a minor player in the roasted chicken market, sued Kenny Rogers Roasters, claiming the chain had copied its recipes and menus. The lawsuit continued until Kenny Rogers Roasters purchased a majority stake in Cluckers in August 1994. Brown expanded the company to a chain of more than 425 restaurants before selling his interest in the franchise to the Malaysia-based Berjaya Group in 1996.

In 1994, two restaurants were opened in Athens, Greece. However, both were closed only a couple of years later.

In 1996, the chain announced plans to open in the United Kingdom and purchased locations in various cities. At this point, annual sales topped $300 million. However, the planned restaurants in Britain never materialized.

The company entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 1998 and was bought by Nathan's Famous, Inc. for $1.25 million (US$2 million in more recent terms) on April 1, 1999; as a result of restructuring, many locations closed. Rotisserie-roasted chicken had become commonplace in many food supermarkets. By 2000, the chain was down to 90 franchised restaurants, 40 of those in the U.S.

Nathan's Famous divested itself of Kenny Rogers Roasters in 2008, selling it to their Asian franchisee, Roasters Asia Pacific (Cayman) Limited, a company which is owned by Berjaya Group of Malaysia. The last Kenny Rogers Roasters operating in North America was located in the Ontario Mills mall in Ontario, California and closed on December 31, 2011.

The 2008 purchase agreement allowed for Nathan's Famous and Miami Subs to continue selling Kenny Rogers Roasters items in their restaurants. Nathan's continues to serve Kenny Rogers Roasters items in selected locations, such as its flagship location on Coney Island. Miami Subs (since sold off by Nathan's) no longer has a "Kenny Rogers" section on their menu.

Restaurant concept and menu

As a brand, Kenny Rogers Roasters advocates healthy eating as reflected in its brand tag line "less fat...less salt...less calories".

Number of restaurants and countries of operation

In its 2012 Annual Report, Berjaya Corporation Berhad reported that as of April 30, 2012, Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurants numbered 74 in Malaysia and 8 in Indonesia. It was also mentioned that Roasters Asia Pacific (Hong Kong) Limited has operations in other countries including the United States, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, China, and the Philippines.

In addition, Roasters Asia Pacific has been undergoing expansion in other international territories including India and the Middle East. Kenny Rogers Roasters opened its first outlet in Brunei in January 2013. The second Brunei outlet was opened at Tanjung Bunut in June 2015.

In December 2016, the first KRR opened in Thailand in the Laguna area of Phuket. There are currently plans to open other restaurants within Phuket and then into other parts of Thailand as well.