TAMPA, Fla. — Caspers Company said late Monday it would sell all of its roughly 60 restaurants to the McDonald's Corporation.
The company, based in Tampa, employs over 4,000 Floridians, according to the Tampa Business Journal. The terms of the deal for the McDonald's purchase of Casper Company's franchises have not been released, but the deal is expected to be completed by October 1, Restaurant Business Online reported.
Once the deal is complete, it will end an ownership era that started in 1958. The company said the founder, Fritz Casper, opened the first McDonald's in Florida on South Dale Mabry Highway after meeting Ray Kroc in a story outside Chicago. The ownership has since been handed down through three generations of the Casper family, the company said in a statement.
The McDonald's Corporation has been under fire in recent months as it toughened policies to own a franchise and instituted other changes for restauranteurs. Things took an unprecedented turn earlier this month.
The National Black McDonald's Operators Association returned a vote of no confidence on McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski. According to EatThis,NotThat, other groups may choose to do something similar to express their growing discontent.
According to Restaurant Business Online, "a record 400 franchisees have left the system, representing nearly 1,800 locations."
