Corporate Office HQ

First Watch Cafe Corporate Office

First Watch Cafe

The company has grown substantially, mainly through the acquisition of other restaurant chains.

In 2014, First Watch bought The Good Egg, which is located in Arizona. As of 2021, 18 of The Good Egg restaurants have been converted into First Watch restaurants.

History

In May 2015, the company acquired the Colorado-based Egg & I Restaurants chain. The Egg & I has 114 eateries across twenty states. It is unknown if all Egg & I restaurants will be rebranded as First Watch restaurants.

First Watch has a large presence in Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Colorado, and Arizona. First Watch and the Egg & I restaurants serve breakfast, brunch, and lunch and offer a wide variety of food items.

In October 2021, the restaurant chain went public on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol FWRG.

In March 2023, the company reported a strong 2022 report and an even stronger 2023 outlook.

First Watch Cafe maintains a corporate office in Bradenton, Florida.

First Watch Cafe was founded in 1983 by Ken Pendery and John Sullivan. The name refers to the first shift in nautical terms and it seems appropriate since the restaurant is only open between 7 AM and 2:30 PM. The company has grown substantially, … [Continue reading] about First Watch Cafe Corporate Office

Lifetime Fitness Corporate Office

Lifetime Fitness

In 1978, one year before Iranian militants would storm the US Embassy, 17-year-old Bahram Akradi immigrated to the US, joining his brother in Colorado. Working his way through college, Akradi found a job at a health club, cleaning and doing pool maintenance. Soon, however, his workload increased. He asked to be given a membership as partial payment for his work. Within a year, he was the top salesperson and within 3 years, he became a partner with Nautilus.

By 1986, Akradi decided to create his own health club. He knew every part of the business and believed that he could provide better customer service, and offer services that everyone in the family would enjoy, including bright, clean swimming pools and a variety of classes.

History

Lifetime Fitness was founded in 1992, with the first club was located in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.

In 1994, a second club opened in Egan, MN. A year later, another location opened in Woodbury, MN.

In 2000, the chain entered the Chicago market and was operating 21 health clubs.

In 2002, the company expanded to the Southwest with a gym in Tempe, Arizona.

Most clubs are located in fringe, suburban areas where clients don’t have easy access to a gym, or in medium to large metro areas so clients can visit a gym on their lunch hour or before and after work.

In 2004, the company went public, however, in 2015, the company was acquired by two equity firms, TPG Capital and Leonard Green and Partners as part of a leveraged buyout.

In June 2015, a group including Founder & CEO Bahram Akradi, took the company private.

In early 2017 the company responded to complaints about Fox News being shown on televisions throughout the gym by blocking all news channels at all locations.

In November 2021, the company went public (again) under the stock ticker LTH.

Today, Lifetime Fitness operates 105 health clubs in 8 states: Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Texas, Ohio, Arizona, Indiana and Virginia. Company headquarters remain in Chanhassen, Minnesota.

Dollar General Corporate Office

Dollar General

In October of 1939, former farmers James and Cal Turner opened J.L. Turner and Son with an initial investment of $5,000 each. The switch to retailing from farming resulted in annual sales above $2 million by the early 1950s. By the mid-1950s, this father and son team had 35 department stores in Kentucky and Tennessee. The first store actually called Dollar General wasn’t opened until 1955, with the idea that all items in the store would be $1 or less. The idea took off quickly and all J.L. Turner stores were changed to Dollar Generals. The chain reached 29 stores by 1959.

J.L. Turner died in 1964 and Dollar General went public in 1968. In 1977, Cal Turner, Jr. took over as president of the company, making him the third generation to run the company. Cal ran Dollar General until 2002.

History

In 2007, Dollar General was acquired by private equity firms and taken private. 2 years later, in 2009, the company was made public via IPO.

In 2014, the company was fined $52,000 by OSHA for health and safety violations in a Brooklyn store for blocking fire exit doors with merchandise. The company was fined again in 2016 also for blocking fire exits, as well as for exposing employees to possible electrocution by removing or not replacing face plates on electrical outlets.

In mid-2015, CEO Rick Dreiling announced his retirement and was replaced by COO Todd Vasos. That same year, the company posted annual revenue of $20.369 billion.

The company announced in September of 2016 that they had plans to hire an additional 10,000 employees and open 900 new stores in the next year, as well as an additional 1,000 in fiscal 2017.

The company acquired Family Dollar in 2017 and has stated that at least half of these stores will be rebranded to the Dollar General name.

Due to Trump’s tariff’s on Chinese goods, Dollar General stated that they would be forced to raise prices once the items stored in warehouses have been depleted.

In June 2019 FedEx and Dollar General announced a partnership which would allow customers to drop off packages at Dollar General stores for FedEx pickup and drop-off.

Dollar General settled a lawsuit in Vermont, which found more than 300 cases of stores listing one price on the shelf but charging a different price. The company agreed to pay $1.75 million but did not admit to any errors.

In 2016, the company has over 12,500 stores in 43 US states. The Dollar General corporate office is located in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.

Jeff Owen was promoted to CEO of the company in November 2022.

United Rentals Corporate Office

United Rentals

United Rentals was founded in 1997. Then-chairman and CEO Bradley Jacobs planned to grow the company through acquisition and consolidation, beginning in October 1997 with six small leasing companies scattered across North America.

Within 3 months, the company went public on the NYSE under the ticker symbol URI.

In December 2011, United Rentals and RSC Holdings announced that they had entered into a merger agreement, under which United Rentals would acquire RSC in a cash-and-stock transaction. The largest merger in rental equipment history was finalized on April 30, 2012, boosting URI to what was at the time a 13 percent market share of the equipment rental industry.

History

In August 2017, the company announced that it had acquired all portable power assets from Cummins to maintain fleet and customer service continuity. This acquisition mainly involved power generators from Cummins, not major equipment, such as backhoes.

In September 2018, United Rentals acquired BlueLine Rental, adding an additional 144 locations to United Rentals’ lineup.

In December 2022, United Rentals acquired Ahern Rentals for an estimated $2 billion in cash, adding another 106 rental locations.

Today, United Rentals is the largest equipment rental company in the world with about 13 percent of the market share in equipment rentals.

The company has a combined total of 1,449 locations, including an integrated network of 1,390 rental locations in North America, 13 in Europe, 27 in Australia, and 19 in New Zealand. In North America, the company operates in 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico and in every Canadian province.

United Rentals maintains a corporate office in Stamford, Connecticut.

America’s Best Contacts and Eyeglasses Corporate Office

America's Best Contacts and Eyeglasses

Founded in 1978 by Bill Grody soon after the federal deregulation regarding eyeglass prices. The first location was on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile.

Until the early 1990s, the company remained internally financed.

In April 1997, Grody sold ABC&E in its entirety for $50 million to a strategic buyer, Chrysallis Management. Grody led the company throughout its growth until its final sale in 1997.

History

America’s Best Contacts and Eyeglasses is a discount eyewear provider with over 1200 retail locations across the US.

The company is the largest buyer of designer overstock eyewear in the nation.

The parent company, National Vision Holdings, Inc, listed a net revenue in 2022 of $468.9 million.

The company continues to expand, with new locations opening regularly, such as this one in Norcross, Georgia.

America’s Best Contacts and Eyeglasses maintain a corporate office in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

Founded in 1978 by Bill Grody soon after the federal deregulation regarding eyeglass prices. The first location was on Chicago's Magnificent Mile. Until the early 1990s, the company remained internally financed. In April 1997, Grody … [Continue reading] about America’s Best Contacts and Eyeglasses Corporate Office