KrystalKrystal burgers 25 cents tonight
The Krystal fast-food chain that opened its first restaurant in Chattanooga 81 years ago today is celebrating its birthday tonight by offering its name-brand hamburger for only 25 cents from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Guests are asked to limit six Krystals or six Cheese Krystals per customer and are encouraged to come early as lines are anticipated.Krystal, which relocated its headquarters from Chattanooga to Atlanta earlier this year, plans to expand to include 500 or more stores within the next few years.
The Krystal Co. may be an Atlanta company now, but its Chattanooga heritage will live on in a museum hosted by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, CEO Doug Pendergast will announce today at a Rotary Club meeting.
The southern fast-food company, known for its small, steamed burgers and feisty marketing campaigns, was launched in Chattanooga by Rody Davenport and J. Glenn Sherrill in 1932, but was later lured away by an Atlanta-based group of investors in 2012.
The Krystal museum at UTC will host a rotating and permanent collection of historical memorabilia at the campus library. Pendergast will also announce a new endowment for UTC that will be given annually to a student at the college of business.
"Our founders were entrepreneurs who started their restaurant in the midst of the Great Depression," said Pendergast. "We believe it is important to honor their spirit of determination by supporting students who are beginning their own journey. Supporting the college of business at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is a real honor for us and we are very pleased to endow this scholarship."
See tomorrow's Times Free Press for more.