No. They are different chains of restaurants.
Jack's
Jack's Family Restaurants is a successful fast-food chain in Alabama and two neighboring states. It was founded in 1960 by Jack Caddell as a walk-up stand in Birmingham's suburb of Homewood. Originally known as Jack's Hamburgers, the first menu featured hamburgers and French fries, milk shakes, and "fish-on-a-bun." Many Alabamians grew up singing Jack's advertising jingle:
"Jack's hamburgers for 15 cents are so good-good-good . . . you'll go back back back . . . to Jack's Jack's Jack's . . . for more more more!"
Inspired by the early success of the emerging McDonald's hamburger chain in the late 1950s, Caddell, former owner of a barbeque restaurant and popular teenage hangout in Homewood named the Pig Trail Inn, successfully established Alabama's first fast-food chain. Within five years of the Homewood stand opening, Jack's had expanded to more than a half a dozen other locations in the Birmingham area, including Bessemer, Vestavia Hills, and Alabaster.
Soon thereafter, Jack's expanded outside Birmingham to Huntsville, Anniston, Auburn, and Montgomery and even outside the state, with stands in Jackson, Mississippi, and Charleston, South Carolina. Its success was such that by the mid-1960s it delayed MacDonald's dominance of the Birmingham market.
All of the original restaurants were walk-up stands with orange and yellow vertical stripes on each side and signs that featured the name "Jack's" in separate white rectangles with the word "Hamburgers" appearing on a separate sign just below. By the late 1960s, most of these walk-up stands had been converted into larger dine-in facilities.
The signs also were updated to a single red circle with the restaurant's name written at a slant in white inside the circle. The success of the early restaurants was enhanced by live commercials featuring the familiar Jack's jingle appearing on all of the afternoon children's programs within the Birmingham television market.
In 1970, a company known as Florida Capital purchased Jack's from Caddell. Jimmy Moreland, Florida Capital's CEO, spearheaded an aggressive expansion campaign between 1970 and 1978 that resulted in Jack's increasing from 17 to nearly 80 restaurants in four states. The company's expansion coincided with a period of massive growth among fast-food competitors that led to a serious downturn in business. As a result, many locations were forced to close in the early 1980s, particularly in south Alabama.
The business soon rebounded, largely as a result of the efforts of current owner and wholesale grocery supplier Benny LaRussa, who had expanded his holdings from a single franchise purchased in the 1960s to a franchise territory of 13 restaurants by 1979. By 1988, LaRussa increased his franchise territory to 33 locations, even as other restaurants owned by the company were closing.
LaRussa purchased the sole franchise rights to Jack's in 1989 from Florida Capital and began supplying his Jack's restaurants as well as a number of area Subway restaurants from his wholesale grocery business, Southeastern Food Merchandisers. Under LaRussa's leadership, 64 company-owned restaurants reached annual sales exceeding $50 million by the end of fiscal year 2001. This level of success was achieved with an emphasis on friendly service and a well-planned marketing campaign. By 2006, the number of restaurants had increased to 76, bringing the company close to its level of success of the 1970s.
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Jack in the Box via kwout
Jack in the Box
On the other hand, Jack in the Box Inc. is a restaurant company that operates and franchises Jack in the Box® restaurants and—through a wholly owned subsidiary—Qdoba Mexican Eats® restaurants.
Founded in 1951, Jack in the Box is among the nation’s leading fast-food hamburger chains, with more than 2,200 quick-serve restaurants in 21 states and Guam. As the first major hamburger chain to develop and expand the concept of drive-thru dining, Jack in the Box has always emphasized on-the-go convenience, with approximately 85 percent of the half-billion guests served annually buying food at the drive-thru or for take-out. In addition to drive-thru windows, most restaurants have indoor dining areas and are open 18-24 hours a day.
Jack in the Box pioneered a number of firsts in the quick-serve industry, including menu items that are now staples on most fast-food menu boards, like the breakfast sandwich and portable salads. Today, Jack in the Box offers a selection of distinctive, innovative products targeted at the fast-food consumer, including hamburgers, specialty sandwiches, salads and real ice cream shakes. Hamburgers represent the core of the menu, including the signature Jumbo Jack®, Sourdough Jack®, Ultimate Cheeseburger and Buttery Jack™ burgers. And, because value is important to fast-food customers, the company’s menu also features Jack’s Deals, which includes value-priced products like tacos, chicken nuggets, a chicken sandwich and a Jr.. Bacon Cheeseburger.
In addition to offering high-quality products, Jack in the Box recognizes that an increasing number of quick-serve customers also want the ability to customize their meals. Whether that means forgoing the bun and sauce in favor of a low-carb burger, or substituting ingredients to create the exact mix of flavors to suit an individual’s personal tastes, customers have that flexibility at Jack in the Box. “We don’t make it ‘til you order it®.” So, regardless of the order, each meal is served hot and fresh to customers. We also serve our full menu, including breakfast, all day every day. So whether you want a Buttery Jack™ burger for breakfast or Breakfast Jack® sandwich for dinner, you can get what you want whenever you want it at Jack in the Box.
Based in San Diego, Jack in the Box Inc. has more than 20,000 employees.
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