Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a chain of theme bar-restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll memorabilia, a tradition which expanded to others in the chain. In 2007, Hard Rock Cafe International (USA), Inc. was sold to the Seminole Tribe of Florida and was headquartered in Orlando, Florida, until April 2018, when the corporate offices were relocated to Davie, Florida.[2][3] As of July 2018, Hard Rock International has venues in 74 countries, including 172 bar or cafe-restaurants, 37 hotels, and 11 casinos.[4][5]
For other uses, see Hard Rock Cafe (disambiguation) and Hard Rock Hotel and Casino (disambiguation).Company type
History[edit]
Cafe-restaurants[edit]
The first Hard Rock Cafe opened on June 14, 1971, at 150 Old Park Lane, Hyde Park, Mayfair, London,[6] under the ownership of two Americans, Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton. Hard Rock initially had an eclectic decor, but it later started to display memorabilia. In 1978, a second location was opened in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[7]
The chain began to expand worldwide in 1982 when Morton opened Hard Rock Cafes in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, and Tigrett opened locations in New York, Dallas, Boston, Washington, D.C., Orlando as well as Paris and Berlin.[8] Hard Rock Cafe locations in the US vary from smaller, more tourist driven markets (Biloxi, Pigeon Forge, Key West) to large metropolises (Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York City, Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C.).
Hard Rock Cafe typically does not franchise cafe locations in the United States. All U.S. cafes are corporate owned and operated, except for cafes in Tampa and in the (now closed) Four Winds New Buffalo casino.[9] However, in the transition of the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel property, originally owned and then later sold to Rank by founder Peter Morton, Morton retained hotel naming rights west of the Mississippi. When Morton sold his Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel to the Morgans Hotel Group, he also sold those naming rights, which then gave rise to two US franchised hotels (without cafes) in Albuquerque and Tulsa. (The Albuquerque hotel no longer pays for the Hard Rock rights and reverted to its former name in June 2013.) Additional casino hotels franchised from Morgan's were subsequently opened in Sioux City, Iowa and Vancouver, Canada.
A Hard Rock Cafe exists in Empire, Colorado, which was established in 1934 that is not part of the chain.[10]
In 1990, The Rank Group, a London-based leisure company, acquired Mecca Leisure Group and continued expansion of the concept in its geographic territory. Rank went on to purchase Hard Rock America from Peter Morton as well as Hard Rock Canada from Nick Bitove. After the completion of these acquisitions, Rank gained worldwide control of the brand. In March 2007, the Seminole Tribe of Florida acquired Hard Rock Cafe International, Inc. and other related entities from Rank for US$965 million.[2]
In 2008, anonymous members of the wait staff in London criticized the business because of its practice of paying them less than half the official minimum wage in the UK, with the business allocating the tips to staff wages, thus bringing their salaries within the minimum wage requirements. Most customers, it was argued, do not realize that they are subsidizing a low wage when they give the tip.[11]
Acquisition by the Seminole Tribe of Florida[edit]
On December 7, 2006, Rank sold its Hard Rock business to the Seminole Tribe of Florida for $965 million. Included in the deal were 124 Hard Rock Cafes, four Hard Rock Hotels, two Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hotels, two Hard Rock Live! concert venues, and stakes in three unbranded hotels. Rank retained the Hard Rock Casino in London, and rebranded it the G Casino Piccadilly. The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas was also not part of the deal, as Peter Morton sold it to Morgans Hotel Group in May 2006.[46]
The final takeover was mired in controversy, due to a payment clause in a contract with one casino developer, Power Plant Entertainment. Power Plant and the Seminoles announced a settlement in April 2007 which both sides called equitable.[47] On January 8, 2007, Rank shareholders approved the Seminoles' $965 million offer. The Tribe announced it had finalized the deal on March 11, 2007.[48]
On June 22, 2008, the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood began "Vegas-style" table gambling in addition to the Class II slots already in operation. To win approval for the table games, which were barred under Florida law, the Seminole Tribe paid the State of Florida $100 million as part of a 25-year pact signed by Governor Charlie Crist. On July 3, 2008, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the governor's agreement was unconstitutional, but table games continue to operate because the Federal Department of the Interior approved the now-invalid pact with the state.[49]
A similar issue stemmed with sports betting in Florida under the Hard Rock Bet app. Through a new gaming compact, the Seminole Tribe began to offer off-grounds sports betting. Once live in 2021, lawsuits caused the Seminole Tribe to halt operations.[50] Relaunching in November 2023 for returning players, the Seminole Tribe of Florida now operates online sports betting too.[51]
Controversy[edit]
During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Hard Rock Cafe refused to withdraw from the Russian market. An April 28 study by Yale University, intended to identify how companies were reacting to the invasion, placed Hard Rock Cafe in the second-worst category of "Buying Time", meaning "Holding Off New Investments/Development: companies postponing future planned investment/development/marketing while continuing substantive business".[52]
Cleveland Hard Rock Cafe, closed since 2016.
