Planet Hollywood International Inc. (stylized as planet hollywood, planet Hollywood observatory and ph) is a theme restaurant inspired by the popular portrayal of Hollywood. The company is owned by Earl Enterprises corporation. Earl Enterprise was founded by Robert Earl.
It was launched in New York City on October 22, 1991, with the backing of Hollywood stars Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The actors recruited were paid for their appearances and endorsements via Employee stock ownership plan. Further celebrity endorsement included actress Whoopi Goldberg, actor Jean-Claude Van Damme, actor Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, director John Hughes, comedian Roseanne Barr, and actors Tom Arnold, Wesley Snipes, and Danny Glover.
Video Planet Hollywood
Background
Robert Earl had a history of opening theme-restaurants first in Britain (1970s) and in Orlando, Florida. He sold in the 1987 this restaurant group (President Entertainments; 70 restaurants) to a larger company, Pleasurama PLC For Pleasurama, Earl acquired control of Hard Rock Cafe International (eastern rights company) from co-founder Isaac Tigrett then in 1989 named as chief executive of the company. At the end of 1989, Mecca Leisure acquired Pleasurama. Mecca was then purchased by the Rank Organisation in 1990. While expanding Hard Rock Cafe from seven to 20 locations over the next two year, Earl met Bryan Kestner, with whom he had a shared vision of music, movies, and sports transcending language and other barriers.
Maps Planet Hollywood
History
Planet Hollywood was their joint restaurant themed on film and television entertainment which Barish and Earl opened in late 1991 in New York City blocks from Hard Rock Cafe. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg were some of the actors that became investors/promoters of a Planet location. In mid-1992, Peter Morton, a co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, co-owner of Hard Rock Licensing Corporation and owner and CEO of Hard Rock Cafe America, sues Rank and Earl for trade secrets appropriation. With the restaurant a success and the Hard Rock Cafe lawsuit, Earl left both the Hard Rock Cafe and the Rank Organisation late that year. By the middle of the next year, three more locations were opened, London and southern California, or under construction, Chicago. Morton's lawsuits made little waves in court. In 1993, the company opened two new locations, Washington, D.C., and Cancun, Mexico, while arranging leases for five new locations. Each new unit, opening with a gala event, generated nearly $15 million revenue in their first operational year.
With the its success, the company continued its aggressive expansion plan in 1994 while turning its attention developing more theme-restaurant concepts. One of which was the Official All Star Café, a sports version of Planet Hollywood. Given the go ahead, they started recruiting professional sports figures and planning its stadium and home cuisine menu and planning its merchandise.
The Planet's best location unit was opened in Los Vegas in 1994 with double the usual seating to 500 and became its highest-grossing Planet Hollywood unit. This was followed later in the year by another 500-seater at Walt Disney World.
With expansion operating smoothly, Earl started working on other area of growth in 1995. Construction on the All Star Café's first location in New York City began in August 1995 near the Planet Hollywood and opened on December 18, 1995. Development was started on a Marvel Comics based restaurant concept and on a Planet Hollywood Squares television game show with King World and Roseanne Barr's production company based on the Hollywood Squares. With the success of the merchandise, stand alone retail stores, Planet Hollywood Superstores were opened around 1996.
Public corporation
In April 1996, Planet Hollywood went public on the New York Stock Exchange at $18 a share. The company's share price reached an all-time high of $32 on the first day of trading; by 1999, it was down to less than $1. The company has gone bankrupt twice. In addition to going public, the company had MBNA issue Planet Hollywood VISA credit cards that gave cardholders priority restaurant seating. Planet Hollywood International and ITT Corporation formed a joint venture for Planet Hollywood casinos. The corporation and Marvel Entertainment Group agreed to launch the Marvel Mania comic book character-based restaurant concept. The company also had started to develop Chefs of the World concept, which would feature a "'star-studded' culinary staff".
The company planned to expand by 30 to 40 percent each year in annual revenue and the number of restaurant location. Additional competitors also started up, Country Star chain, Harley-Davidson Café, Robert DeNiro's Tribeca Grill and Thunder Roadhouse. Some speculated that the company was thin its resource out to much and could not continue the growth trend that could also effect the novel nature of a trip to a location. With novelty dropping there would be less visit dropping per store revenue.
In September 1997, Planet Hollywood International Inc. announced its Cool Planet Cafe ice-cream shop chain which would open 10 locations in 1998. ITT Corporation and Planet Hollywood were in discussion early SEptember 1997 for a Planet Hollywood hotel near Time Square. The corporation then formed on September 24, 1997 a joint venture for an Official All Star Hotel.
In the fourth quarter of 1997, the company recorded a $40 million loss. Too much focus on diversification showed that the original chain was neglected with mediocre food, high menu prices and below normal service. The follow year saw Barish resign and replaced by William Baumhauer as president. Its franchise in South Africa had a bomb exploded in its Cape Town location in August 1998. $244 million in losses were recorded in 1998.
Marvel Mania opened on February 18, 1998 near Universal Studios Hollywood with Marvel being a co-owner with Universal Studios Hollywood and Planet Hollywood. However, Planet Hollywood had financial problems due to expanding too quickly and had to close it. In July 1999, the company started its Planet Movies by AMC. In May 1998, the corporation agreed to its first United Kingdom location for Planet Movies by AMC in Manchester.
Causing little change on the company's net profit/loss line, Baumhauer resigned in June 1999 with the company having $359 million in debt on the books. On October 12, 1999, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in an attempt to reorganize. They closed or sold poorly performing Planet Hollywood restaurants and Official All Star Cafes. The move to focus on its original theme concept, stopping operation of Planet Movies by AMC and sold its Sound Republic units.
Schwarzenegger severed his financial ties with the business in January 2000. Planet Hollywood exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 9, 2000 with the approval of its reorganization plan. New celebrities were sought out for their restaurants while renewing relationships with early recruits. The plan included capital and debt restructuring including a cash infusion plus new products and improvements to decor and the menu. Planet's first website was launched with entertainment news and chat rooms. Earl, Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal and Ong Beng Seng, the Singapore property and retail magnate, had led restructuring plan which left the company with 35 locations, 25 of which were franchised.
Barred due to its bankruptcy, Plane Hollywood International had relisted in May 2000 on the NASDAQ. In September 2000, the Official All Star Cafe in Time Square was closed with the Planet Hollywood moving and taking over its 600 seat location. While this All Star location was profitable, Planet Hollywood was more profitable. The company was also coming out of chapter 11 bankruptcy.
In October 2001, Planet Hollywood International filed again for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Blaming the economic slowdown from the September 11 attacks, the company had $135 million in debt.
Las Vegas: Resort & Casino
Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas had its grand opening the weekend of November 16, 2007, in the remodeled Aladdin Hotel & Casino. Planet Hollywood partnered with Westgate Resorts on the new Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, connected to the existing resort, which opened on January 1, 2010. The 52-story luxury vacation ownership and condominium tower included over 1,200 1-4 bedroom units and a four story penthouse of 28 luxury condominiums from 4,000 to 10,000 square feet (370 to 930 m2). The building is a key subject in the documentary film The Queen of Versailles. The resort and casino were sold in 2010 to Caesars Entertainment, and the separate Towers project was sold to Centerbridge Partners' Resort Finance Associates in 2011.
Buca di Beppo
In September 2008, Planet Hollywood International Inc. acquired Buca, Inc., the owner of the Buca di Beppo national restaurant chain.
Current locations
As of December 2016, following the closure of several dozen locations, there are currently nine locations operating:
Restaurants with merchandise stores
- Disneyland Paris - Disney Village (Opened July 1996)
- Las Vegas - The Forum Shops at Caesars (Opened July 1994)
- London - Haymarket (Relocated June 2009)
- Los Angeles - Tom Bradley International Terminal (Opened November 2016)
- New York - Times Square (Relocated November 2000)
- Walt Disney World - Disney Springs (Opened October 1994; renovation to Planet Hollywood Observatory, opened 2017)
Merchandise stores
- Walt Disney World - Disney's Hollywood Studios (Opened July 1997)
Resorts
- Goa - Planet Hollywood Goa, Utorda Beach (Opened October 2014)
- Las Vegas - Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Las Vegas Strip (Opened April 2007)
Former other concepts
- Official All Star Café (1995--
- Marvel Mania restaurant (1989--1999)
- Planet Movies by AMC (July 1999--) movie multiplexes of 30 screens maximum in complexes with Planet Hollywood and All Star Cafe restaurants and Cool Planet ice cream parlors
- Cool Planet Cafe ice cream shops (founded September 1997, opened 1998) From Planet Hollywood's star stable, Whoopi Goldberg wsa the main promoter of the chain
- Cool Planet Ice Cream, which was launched with its ice cream shops, was made by Dreyer's and was available in grocery stores
- Sound Republic
See also
Theme restaurants
- Bubba Gump Shrimp Company
- Buca di Beppo
- Rainforest Cafe
- T-Rex Cafe
Former theme restaurants
- Fashion Cafe
References
External links
- Corporate home page
Source of article : Wikipedia
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