Think 1950s. Think "Happy Days." Think about Fred's vehicle tipping over as a carhop places a huge tray of ribs on its window at the beginning of "The Flintstones."
Think drive-in restaurants.
Though the 1950s are long gone and those well-known TV shows live on only in syndication, the drive-in is alive and well in Utah.
In fact, Sonic Corp. is betting that Utahns want more drive-ins. The chain, based in Oklahoma City, has more than 2,430 restaurants in 30 states. That includes 13 in Utah, most of which have opened in the past four years.
According to David Vernon, vice president of franchise sales for Sonic, the company hopes to open a total of 30 more company-owned and franchised stores in the state in the next five to six years.
So, does this represent a comeback for drive-ins? A return to the glory days?
Actually, there is no need for a comeback, according to local drive-in operators. The drive-in, they will tell you, never really left.
"We're probably on the fifth generation of families," said Mark Hale of Hires Big H, which was started by his father, Don, in 1959 at 700 East and 400 South in Salt Lake City.
"A couple will go to Hires for their first date. . . . They'll get married and bring their children. And rather than always having to dress up the family to come inside, the kids will be in their jammies with Mom and Dad in their car.
"That sequence continues as kids grow up. Mom and Dad are always taking the kids to Hires. Then, when they hit high school and college, (the kids) still want to go to Hires. And it repeats itself."
It's all about the families, you see. Vernon stresses Sonic's "family concept" as the reason it will thrive in Utah.
"Utah is very family-oriented," he said. "We've looked at the demographics in Salt Lake, with the young population. And we've been pleased with it."
John Maddox, manager of the drive-in at Maddox Ranch House in Perry, Box Elder County, cites the different atmosphere of a drive-in. Maddox was opened by his grandfather 53 years ago, and the drive-in was added later.
"It's . . . a change from the normal food-service, fast-food-type deal," Maddox said. "I think it's nice to sit in your car with your family and be waited on and just not have to do anything but sit there and enjoy. You don't have to wait in a line."
Then there are more practical family considerations.
"My kid wanted a big hot dog," said Kim Hilton of Sandy last week as she waited to order at the Sonic on Fort Union Boulevard.
Some of Hilton's co-workers told her Sonic's food was good, she said, and she was looking for something different. So she decided to give the place a try.
"It reminds me of a long time ago," Hilton said. "It's a nice, different atmosphere."
While the company stresses its family feeling, Sonic is no mom-and-pop operation. Founded in 1953 as the "Top Hat" by Troy Smith in Shawnee, Okla., the chain grew quickly, adding more than 800 restaurants between 1973 and 1978.
Cliff Hudson, the company's current chairman and chief executive officer, led Sonic's successful leveraged buyout from its franchisee shareholders for $10 million in May 1986. Public stock offerings in 1991 and 1995 raised enough cash for Sonic to pay off its debt and add to working capital.
The result: Sonic Corp. reported net income of $7.1 million for its second quarter ended Feb. 28, compared to $5.5 million in the prior-year period. The company's net income per diluted share rose 31 percent to 17 cents. And total revenues for the quarter increased 29 percent to $81.6 million.
Those are the kinds of numbers that Jeff Stowe, owner since 1973 of Kirt's drive-in in North Ogden, would not dream about. But Stowe is well aware of Sonic's growth in Utah, as the chain opened a restaurant last July just four blocks from Kirt's.
"Our business is much reduced since last year," Stowe said. "People might have come here because we were the only thing that offered the (drive-in) concept, but now there is a fancier place that does the same thing we do.
"We haven't even had a year with Sonic, so we are still testing the waters to see what our summer's going to be."
Stowe runs just the one restaurant, with an indoor dining room in addition to stalls for about 20 cars at the drive-in.
The typical Sonic has a drive-through window, as well as 24 to 36 drive-in stalls, Vernon said. Music plays as people peruse the menus. Carhops on in-line skates deliver meals.
"We call our look a future retro look," Vernon said. "If you look at the building, we use a lot of bright neon, but at the same time, we use a lot of fiber optics. We have taken the '50s look and updated it with new graphics and a fun atmosphere."
The neon sign of Sonic's Fort Union location shines directly on a Hires Big H right next door.
Hale and his brother, Jon — with help from two sisters — operate the Hires Big H restaurants in West Valley City and Midvale, as well as the original Salt Lake location. And while Mark Hale said he is well aware of Sonic's push into Utah, he thinks the competition will make everyone better.
"When Sonic came in, we looked at our organization to see what we needed to do to improve upon it, and there were two or three things we identified," he said. "We made our carhop service even faster. We added a product or two to our menu so we could offer the same things Sonic would offer, then made sure our service was as quick and efficient as possible."
Before Sonic came, Hale said, the space next to Hires on Fort Union was "just a vacant field."
"They have developed it in a nice fashion and added a lot of light and pizzazz to the area," Hale said. "We're busier now than ever before because more people are coming to the area. We're pleased that they're there, and we hope that they do well, because business breeds business."
Sonic's Vernon echoes Hale's comments.
"We respect (Hires Big H)," Vernon said. "We respect what they've done. We don't intend to take away their business. . . . We're not trying to compete with the local places that are there. Our competition is more with Wendy's and Burger King."
That bottom line is the same for all of the drive-in owners, big or small: trying to offer something different from the McDonaldses of the world.
"The drive-in concept we utilize is a very convenient type of setting for today's consumer," Vernon said. "If you've got three or four kids in the back seat and two in the front seat and yourself, you can push the button (to order) when you're ready to go. When you're in the drive-through and they change their mind every few seconds, it's not as enjoyable an experience as when you order when you're ready."
Vernon would appreciate the comments of first-time customer Lynn Coulam of Sandy.
"I like trying a place like this more than McDonald's," Coulam said just after his order was delivered at the Fort Union Sonic last week. "I just like the burgers better."
For Hale, differentiation from McDonald's means Hires Big H uses buns that are baked fresh daily, grinds its own meat and keeps pumping out the fry sauce.
"Our product is based on quality and tastiness," he said. "It's not based on price. A lot of restaurants in town will try to attract customers based on price. We can't do that, because our prices are fairly expensive in comparison."
For Maddox, differentiation means, among other things, offering the restaurant's famous pies at the drive-in's 30 stalls. For Stowe, it means emphasizing Kirt's well-known shakes.
Still, Stowe would not say Utah is ready for 30 more drive-ins. The novelty might last for a while, he said, but drive-ins really are inefficient as restaurants go, with waitresses constantly going back and forth, in and out, delivering that extra straw or ketchup packet.
Maddox also is skeptical.
"It's amazing to me how many Sonics have come in and been built," he said. "It blows me away that they have those kinds of resources to do that. . . . But it's kind of like the diners. Everybody said that was going to be a trend, and it was for a while, but I don't know if they're successful now."
Such talk does not concern Vernon. He cites the nearly 700 Sonic stores in Texas and more than 200 in Oklahoma as evidence that the restaurant's plan has worked. And he foresees the same success in Utah.
"We try to concentrate on what makes our brand successful, and that's fast, made-to-order food in a friendly atmosphere," he said. "There are always competitors, but as long as we focus on what makes us successful, that's what's important to us."
E-mail: gkratz@desnews.com