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Lum's
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryRestaurant chain
Founded1956; 68 years ago (1956) in Miami Beach, Florida
FounderClifford S. Perlman, Stuart Perlman
Defunct1982; 42 years ago (1982)
FateLiquidation; a few franchisees remained in independent operation until 2017
Headquarters
US
Number of locations
~400 (1971) at peak
Area served
United States
ParentWienerwald

Lum's was an American family restaurant chain based in Florida with additional locations in several states. It was founded in 1956 in Miami Beach, Florida, by Stuart and Clifford S. Perlman[1] when they purchased Lum's hot dog stand for $10,000. Over the next few years, the Perlman brothers opened three additional Lum's restaurants, for a total of four by 1961.[2]

Clifford Perlman, in addition to owning Lum's, had been serving as the president of Southern Wood Industries, Inc., resigned that position to work full-time for Lum's. Under the brothers, Lum's began aggressively expanding and franchising; the signature item was hot dogs steamed in beer. In 1969, Lum's, Inc., was admitted to the New York Stock Exchange.

Lum's, Inc., purchased Caesars Palace for $60 million in 1969. At that time, Caesars was a 500-room hotel-casino on the Las Vegas strip. The food operations of Lum's, Inc., were sold in 1971 to John Y. Brown, then chairman of Kentucky Fried Chicken, along with a group of investors.[3] At the time of sale, the company owned and franchised 400 stores in the continental US, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Europe.

Brown sought to improve the menu, and searched America for "the perfect hamburger".[4] In 1971, Brown bought Ollie Gleichenhaus's "Ollie Burger" recipe for $1 million (equivalent to $7,523,418 in 2023), along with stock in the new company and a ten-year contract for $50,000 a year to appear as the official spokesperson of the Ollieburger on behalf of Lum's.[5]

In 1978, Wienerwald Holdings, A.G., a Swiss holding company and parent of the Wienerwald restaurant chain, under the direction of Friedrich Jahn, purchased the 273 restaurant chain from Brown.[6] Wienerwald had overextended itself and was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1982. Two Jahn-controlled Lum's franchises were also forced to close all of their 70 Lum's locations and file for bankruptcy.[7]

The original Lum's location closed in 1983.[8] For a time, there was only one Lum's operating, in Bellevue, Nebraska.[9][failed verification] In 2010 a Lum's opened in Seekonk, Massachusetts,[10] but later closed, leaving the Nebraska restaurant as the sole location. The Bellevue location closed on May 28, 2017.[11] The Lum's located in Davie, Florida claimed to be the last remaining store when it closed in the late 2000s. [12]

The Miami Beach location was still open around 1998.[citation needed][original research?]

For a time in the 1970s, the company's commercial spokesman was Milton Berle.

Lum's makes a cameo appearance in Martin Scorsese's 2019 film The Irishman.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "S. Perlman, Co-Founded Lums Chain". San Jose Mercury News. January 6, 1988. Retrieved October 11, 2007 – via NewsBank.
  2. ^ "Lum's Chief: From Law to Hot Dogs". The New York Times. February 1, 1970. p. F12.
  3. ^ Bamash, Isadore (July 24, 1971). "Resignation Denied By K.F.C. Chairman". The New York Times. pp. 31, 34.
  4. ^ "ENTREPRENEURS: John Brown's Buddy". Time. New York, New York: Time Life, Inc. August 28, 1972. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  5. ^ "He'd Outrank the Colonel". The Billings Gazette. Billings, Montana. November 30, 1975. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  6. ^ Tagliabue, John (July 18, 1981). "Wienerwald's U.S. Challenge". The New York Times. p. 29.
  7. ^ "2 Lum's Owners File for Chapter 11". New York Times. September 24, 1982.
  8. ^ "Lums first store to shut down". Miami Herald. May 22, 1983. Retrieved October 11, 2007 – via NewsBank.
  9. ^ "Lums Restaurant – Bellevue, NE". Yelp. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
  10. ^ "Things to Do - Lum's". Providence Journal. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
  11. ^ Hansen, Sarah Baker (June 2, 2017). "Last Lums Restaurant closes after 49 years in Bellevue; chain had about 400 locations at its height". Omaha World-Herald.
  12. ^ https://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/restaurants/article149485859.html
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