Halo Burger, formerly known by its full name Bill Thomas' Halo Burger, is an American fast-food restaurant chain based in Genesee County, Michigan. Begun in 1923 as the original Kewpee location and separating from the Kewpee chain in 1967 with two locations, the chain has maintained a number of locations in and around Genesee County.
It is not easy to determine a single founding date for the company because the company evolved from the original Kewpee location opened in 1923 which expanded into a chain before 1944 when Thomas started his business that would later be named Halo Burger by leasing the original location.
History
Samuel V. Blair opened the Kewpee Hotel restaurant in downtown Flint and expanded to approximately 400 locations by 1939 through licensing the name. Blair sold the rights to the Kewpee trademarks to Toledo, Ohio Kewpee operator Edwin Adams in 1926. William "Bill" V. Thomas started working at Blair's Kewpee in 1938. Thomas began leasing the original Harrison Street, Flint location from Blair upon his retirement on April 1, 1944. Blair died in 1945 and Thomas continued to lease the location and pay royalties to Adams for use of the Kewpee name. The Blair estate's Kewpee location went up for sale in 1958. Thomas was able to purchase the Flint location. Thomas expanded with a second Kewpee location downtown Flint with the purchase of Vernor's Ginger Ale building in 1951.
Halo Burger
Adams switched from a trademark license of Kewpee to a full franchising arrangement in 1967. Thomas rejected this new arrangement and changed the name of his restaurants to Bill Thomas' Halo Burger. Halo Burgers' first location only under the Halo Burger name opened in 1973 on Linden Road, the same year that Thomas died. In 1976, two more locations opened: one located on Pierson Road, and another in Grand Blanc. In 1979, the Harrison location was vacated to make way for University of Michigan-Flint parking. The staff of the former Harrison Street location were transferred to a newly opened Halo Burger serving Flint's east side.
The 1980s became a decade of expansion with 10 more locations, starting in 1984 with another downtown Flint location. In 1985, Halo Burger expanded to Birch Run, with a location that was opened on property leased at Conlee Oil Company's station. Locations in Saginaw and Flint's Southwest side opened in 1986. Another location in Saginaw followed in 1987 along with the Richfield Road and Genesee Valley Center locations. Three more locations opened in 1988: in Fenton, at Atherton Road and at Corunna Road near Ballenger Highway. The Saginaw, Genesee Valley Center and Corunna Road locations later closed. Their Grand Blanc Downtown location closed in 1998 and was replaced by a location in Grand Blanc Township.
On September 5, 2002, Halo Burger takes over the former Campus Cafe at University of Michigan-Flint University Center. In November, the company recalled flashlights that were given out with kid's meals. On July 22, 2007, all 11 locations were shut down for a day due to a possible E. coli contamination as their supplier, Abbott's Meat, had recalled a number of meat products and received meat from a temporary supplier. Due to the new student housing and 24-hour food service, Sodexo, that goes along the housing, the University Center location closed April 21, 2008.
Dortch Enterprises ownership
An initial attempt to sell the chain to key employees fell through after issues with the bank. As his son was uninterested in 2010, the Thomas family sold the nine location chain to Dortch Enterprises, which operates multiple Subway restaurants in Michigan, with the sale completed on December 29, 2010 for a price of about $10 million. Dortch will be expanding to new locations and making over of the restaurants towards a "fast-casual feel" with earth tones and "upscale decor". In 2011, the company announced they are adding locations in the Oakland County/Detroit metro area in late 2012 and that they would be adding 2 to 3 locations per year. While Dortch feels that Halo Burger locations would do well in East Lansing with Michigan State University and Ann Arbor with University of Michigan having Flint area university students, plans for opening in those cities have been put on hold.
In June 2011, the Company broke ground for a new 10th location in Grand Blanc Township on Holly Road. Three other sites have been selected for new locations: Fenton, Lapeer and Lapeer Road, Davison. In October the Holly Road location opened.
One opened in a gas station in Mount Morris in February 2012. In August 2012, Dortch filed and received approval for a site plan for a joint Halo Burger-Subway location on Belsay Road in Burton.