The First Frosty Mug
In June 1919, in Lodi, California, Roy Allen, an entrepreneur, made a batch of creamy root beer and sold the first frosty mug of this drink for one nickel. Now, A&W Root Beer is the world's number one selling root beer and is still made daily and sold at hundreds of A&W Restaurants. Allen bought the formula for his root beer from a pharmacist in Arizona. The unique blend of herbs, spices, barks and berries remains a secret. With the success of his first root beer stand in Lodi, Allen opened a second stand in Sacramento. It was there that what is thought to be the country's first "drive-in" featuring "tray-boys" for curb side service, opened up. In 1922, Allen took on a partner called Frank Wright, an employee from his original Lodi location. The two partners combined their initials - "A" for Allen and "W" for Wright and formally named the beverage, A&W Root Beer, Three units were opened in Sacramento, then on to other northern and central California locations and to the states of Texas and Utah.
Looking Forward
In December 1994, Sagittarius Acquisitions, Incorporated, purchased A&W Restaurants, Inc., from the Taubman interests. The new ownership, who is backed by an investment company called Grotech Capital, will look at Sidney Feltenstein's long history of industry experience to help move A&W Restaurants into a new era of growth and prosperity as it passes the year 2000 and later.
http://www.awrootbeer.com/hist_hist.htm The first A&W Store http://awrootbeer.com/corp_can.htm The Current A&W - Lodi,
CA
