Courtesy The Maid-Rite sandwich.

Courtesy Maid Rite dining room from the 1920s.

Courtesy The modern Maid-Rite dining room.

A Midwest sandwich chain with more than 90 restaurants in eight states has targed North Platte as a priority city for expanding and is seeking local franchisees.

FREE Mobile Banking NOW AVAILABLE!

Maid-Rite, based in Des Moines, Iowa, has been in business for more than 80 years. Its signature item is a loose-meat sandwiche made with seasoned ground beef.

The company is expanding throughout the Midwest and targeted North Platte as a city that fits its profile nicely.

“In our opinion, a Maid-Rite Sandwich Shoppe restaurant in North Platte would be very successful because of the population size of the city of approximately 23,878 residents,” said Bradley Burt, President and CEO of Made-Rite said. “The entire community would enjoy our famous sandwiches, thick Blue Bunny malts & shakes and our homemade pies.”

Tania Burt, Vice President of Maid-Rite, said she believed North Platte would be a successful franchise operation. She said North Platte fit her profile perfectly.

The franchise is aggressively pursuing growth, according to Burt. She said they have a 10-year plan to grow the company from 90 stores to 1,000 with locations from coast to coast.

Toward that end, Burt said she has targeted towns the company wants to locate in and contacted the newspapers.

“Whenever the papers report that we want to open a new restaurant there, we always hear from people interested in franchising,” Burt said. She said they have opened about 30 new restaurants that way.

“It always works,” Burt said. “I’m surprised others have not begun copying our formula.”

The company is growing out from Iowa by targeting towns in surrounding states, Burt said. She said the restaurants are located in Ill., Neb., Kan., Okla. and opening soon in Texas. They are targeting towns in states throughout the Midwest.

Burt said it takes about $300,000 to open a Maid-Rite restaurant. She said the investor would need to have $60,000 in liquid capital with the ability to borrow the difference locally.

“My husband Brad is a former banker and will assist new franchisees,” Burt said. She said the company would assist with the site selection, the business plan and could save potential franchisees $40,000.

“The new owner would travel to Des Moines to train,” Burt said. “And we would be on hand to assist with the soft opening day.”

The restaurant

The loose beef sandwiches are never frozen and not fried, Burt said. She said they were steamed to retain their flavor.

Maid-Rite restaurants feature retro decor and seating, with checkered floors, neon and counter stools. In addition to its ground beef sandwiches, Maid-Rite’s menu also includes chicken, fish, malts and shakes made with Blue Bunny ice cream, Seattle’s Best coffee, Godfather’s Pizza, soups and salads. Some locations have drive-thru service.

Burt said Maid-Rite is known for affordability, with a $6.75 average price for a Maid-Rite basket meal, and for being a healthy choice, with sandwiches that are just 415 calories.

The history

In 1926, Fred Angell, a butcher in Muscatine, Iowa, combined a special cut and grind of meat with a selected set of spices and created the Maid-Rite sandwich.

As legend goes, Mr. Angell asked a deliveryman at his restaurant to taste his newest sandwich. After a few bites the taster exclaimed, “You know, Fred, this sandwich is just made right.” The name was born.

The sandwich is often compared to a sloppy joe only without the tomato-based sauce.

The company takes pride in being one of the oldest franchise restaurant chains in the United States.

Angell’s first restaurant was a walk-up restaurant. Later, a new eat-in building was opened. Along with his son Francis Angell, a second restaurant was opened that featured a "car hop" or drive-in service. This was the first such service of this kind in the United States, with A&W Restaurants and White Castle Restaurants following this type of service shortly thereafter.

The first franchise was opened in Durant, Iowa, which still maintains a Maid-Rite restaurant. Maid-Rite began to grow in the number of franchises throughout the United States under the direction of William Angell, the grandson of the founder. The Angell family would have controlling interest in the franchise until 1984, when it was sold to a partnership of Clayton Blue, a farmer from Russell, Iowa, and John Gillotti, a contractor from Des Moines. Blue had plans to expand the chain into a worldwide operation and sell stock to the public; however, after Blue defaulted on the contract to buy Maid-Rite, Gillotti purchased the chain outright in 1988. Gillotti died in 1991, prompting a legal battle between Blue's family and Gillotti's heirs over ownership of the chain. After an injunction was issued by the Polk County District Court in 1992 that prohibited any new Maid-Rite franchises, the Gillotti family was awarded ownership of the 138-store chain in 1995. However, issues with franchise fees and product quality led to a number of restaurants closing; by 2002 the number of Maid-Rite stores had dropped to 83.

In 2002, an investor group led by former Des Moines banker Bradley Burt purchased a majority interest in the Maid-Rite chain, with the Gillotti family retaining an interest. While up to 20 longtime franchisees left Maid-Rite during the first two years of its new ownership, Maid-Rite began to use computerized systems to control expenses, started offering ten-day courses on how to prepare Maid-Rite food to new franchise owners, and created a new uniform decor for its restaurants that retains the nostalgia of the Maid-Rite brand.

According to the Des Moines Register, Maid-Rite has a ten-year plan to open more than 1,000 restaurants throughout the United States.

In November of 2007, Maid-Rite announced an agreement with Hy-Vee Food Stores, a midwestern-based grocer to operate restaurants in their gas stations.