Kimura's Sr.

Kimura's Sr. Restaurants, LLC (also known as Kimura's Sr. Charbroiled Burgers and More (USA), キムラ・シニア (Hepburn: Kimura Shinia) (Japan), and Kimura's Sr. Charbroiled Burgers) is an American international fast-food restaurant chain operated by Kimucorp Restaurant Holdings, Inc. and Kimura Associates USA, Inc. with locations exclusively in the southeastern and northeastern United States. Since its establishment on May 1953 in Tennessee, Kimura's Sr. evolved through many company ownerships.

In March 1989, Kimucorp Restaurant Holdings, parent company of Kimura's Sr., paid $102 thousand to Orlando-based Kimura Associates USA for much of Kimura's Sr. The merger created a chain of 730 Kimura's Sr. outlets in 25 states (USA) and 6 prefectures (Japan).

As of April 2021, Kimura's Sr. is joined by the parent companies and has a total of 970 franchised or company-owned restaurants in 30 states and 20 foreign countries (including Japan, Germany and the Netherlands).

History
On March 20, 1953, Makoto and Hirokazu Kimura borrowed $6800 on his Toyota 2000GT, and added $10 in savings to purchase a food cart. From their cart, they sold hamburgers, cheeseburgers, vegan burgers and chicken burgers for a quarter, and soda or fruit punch for a dime. Within a few days, Makoto and Hirokazu operated five burger stands in the community of Caney Springs, Chapel Hill, Tennessee. On May 10, 1953, the Kimuras walked a short distance to Lewisburg, Tennessee, and opened their first full-service restaurant, Makoto Kimura's Restaurant Chamber at 712 North Ellington Parkway. Cheeseburgers, hamburgers, and other food items were added to the menu for the first time in 1958.

By the start of the 1960s, their local Makoto Kimura's Restaurant Chamber was built in 1961 on the corner of East Commerce Street about 5 blocks east of what is now Sonic Drive-In. In 1965, Makoto and Hirokazu opened their first out-of-town restaurant in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. By August 20, 1968, Hirokazu Kimura was operating 15 restaurants in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia. He incorporated a new company called Hirokazu Makoto Brothers Enterprises, Inc., and particularly launched an expansion of the chain in 1969.

On February 6, 1970, Kimura opened the first three Kimura's Sr. restaurants (they were named Kimura's Sr. because they were a bigger version of Makoto Kimura's Restaurant Chamber) in Lewisburg, Clarksville and Petersburg, Tennessee. The current flagship Kimura's Sr. is located at 910 North Ellington Parkway in Lewisburg, and the former flagship located at 712 North Ellington Parkway was completely demolished to make way for a new Pizza Hut restaurant. The first Kimura's Sr. restaurants also had their first new supervisor, Maximillian Kimura McCallum (younger brother of Hirokazu Kimura), who would later fit in to be the company's president.

By 1974, there were more than 85 Kimura's Sr. locations in southern middle and central Tennessee, and the company expanded into western portions of Tennessee and southeasternmost parts of Missouri. To their success, they built its corporate headquarters in New Madrid, Missouri. Scott Kazuya O'Hara-Mizuno, Hirokazu's late cousin, founded Mizuno Financial Group and Kimura's Sr. Too in Thompson's Station, Tennessee. In September 1976, Kimura's Sr. became the first QSR chain to offer honey fried chicken and burger workstations in all 110 locations. Their first out-of-state restaurant opened in Maitland, Florida in 1978. By 1979, another restaurant opened in Orlando, Florida at 2700 South Semoran Boulevard, making it the second out-of-state restaurant and the second restaurant located in Central Florida. Sales exceeded the $50 million mark by the end of the decade.

In January 1980, the company hired its 50,000th employee, tripling an employee count in almost five years. However, on November 20, 1980, with 200 Kimura's Sr. restaurants in operation, Hirokazu Makoto Brothers Enterprises became a publicly held company, and in 1983, Kimura's Sr. was franchised for the first time. During the decade, their menu expanded with an addition of the Super Kimura Burger, breakfast items, a charbroiled burger line and soda fountains. On April 3, 1987, in honor of the operation of Kimura's Sr.'s 250 restaurants, they've been properly introduced to Winnie the Pooh, who was adopted as the proud flagship mascot of the Kimura's Sr. company. The character of Winnie the Pooh was seen with a special red shirt with a yellow happy star, signifying the company's brand mark. Japanese-American artist Takayuki Shimizu provided the character models for the purpose of commercializing in most Kimura's Sr. restaurants statewide. The first restaurant to add Winnie the Pooh was located in Altamonte Springs, Florida, which it opened on May 2, 1987. Sales topped $720 million by the end of the decade. In 1993, the company entered the Japanese market by opening their first overseas Kimura's Sr. restaurant in Fuji, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. The restaurant operated under the name of "キムラ・シニア" (romanized Kimura Shinia), because the translated English name of Kimura's Sr. would be complicated and very hard to understand for most Japanese.

In celebration of the first 3 overseas restaurants in Japan's Shizuoka and Kanagawa prefectures, on October 17, 1996, Kimura's Sr. introduced their first branding logo. The style of the logo is typically based off of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl's_Jr. Carl's Jr.] and Hardee's logos, using the Carl's Jr. star as the branding mark of the company. While the font is in American Typewriter, the text does not display neither Hardee's nor Carl's Jr. Instead, the text reads "Kimura's Sr." as a wordmark for this company, because some other restaurants struggled to rebrand its Hardee's or Carl's Jr. restaurants into Kimura's Sr., regardless of their company blackouts. Fortunately, on May 4, 1997, as new plans were unveiled for the next Kimura's Sr. restaurant opening in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, so did the update of the character mascot. Takayuki Shimizu made changes to Winnie the Pooh by updating the color of his shirt to purple. The shirt bears the well-drawn Carl's Jr. star with text on the bottom of it, reading "Kimura's Sr." in a handwritten American Typewriter lettering. In 1998, Hirokazu Makoto Brothers Enterprises became a wholly owned subsidiary of HMB Restaurant Holdings, Inc.. which then became a parent company. Around the following year, Kimura's Sr. introduced an alternate logo, this time with the proud flagship mascot Winnie the Pooh on the left, wearing a special purple shirt which bears the well-drawn Carl's Jr. star. The colors of the wordmark have been changed, and the text is read as "Kimura's Sr." written in American Typewriter Condensed font. There is text on the bottom of the wordmark, which says "Bare fares are better with the BEAR!". This happens to be Kimura's Sr.'s first slogan ever coined since their establishment in 1953. By the end of the millennium, the company's sales went up $410 billion. In November 1999, HMB Restaurant Holdings was acquired by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Group, allowing HMB to continue to grow and succeed as a privately held company under the partnership and ownership of Mizuho Financial Group and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.

In 2001, Kimura's Sr. announced the charbroiled burger line with the Super Pooh-Burger. Around the following year, HMB decided to rebrand 4 Kimura's Sr. stores in Central Florida into Hardee's, although they kept their mascot Winnie the Pooh intact as a fond memoir to their branding company. On March 3, 2005, HMB announced a new CEO and a new President of Kimura's Sr. The new CEO of HMB is currently Colby McCulloch (born January 20, 1965 in Edinburgh, Scotland), and the new President of Kimura's Sr. is currently Maximillian Kimura McCallum (Hirokazu Kimura's younger brother, born April 25, 1956 in Miami, Florida), which they were both elected on March 10, 2004. HMB Restaurant Holdings was getting a company name change around that time. The new company name took place as Kimucorp Restaurant Holdings, Inc. (株式会社キムコープ・レストラン・ホールディングス; Hepburn: Kabushikigaisha Kimukōpu Resutoran Hōrudingusu)

In 2006, Kimura's Sr. opened their 100th restaurant in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. To celebrate, the first Kimura's Sr. restaurant opened in Hsinchu City, Taiwan. The restaurant operated under the name of "基木拉前輩" (Pinyin: Jī-mù-lā Qián-bèi), which can be heard in English as Kimura's Sr. as well. Their logo was getting a makeover on May 10, 2009. The new logo is entirely based off of the current Carl's Jr. and Hardee's logos, which includes the modified happy star on the left, and a new wordmark which is likely based on the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's cursive handwriting. The text reads "Kimura's Sr." written in Kathya Script (or Kathya's Jr. font). On the bottom of the text reads "Charbroiled Burgers and More", written in Franklin Gothic font. The same applies to the Japanese restaurant branch with the same logo as shown on the English logo, but the text "Charbroiled Burgers and More" was shortened to just "Charbroiled Burgers". An additional text is shown on the bottom, reading "キムラ・シニア" in Hiragino Kaku Gothic font. The former logo was kept as an alternate logo for name brands only, and is in use on older Kimura's Sr. locations across the southeastern and midwestern United States.

This brought to a change on their proud mascot character. Takayuki Shimizu provided an artistic Disney-style flair to Winnie the Pooh, only this time he's wearing a top hat above his head, along with his special light red shirt bearing the yellow happy star, which is the brand mark of the current Kimura's Sr. logo. On the center of the shirt reveals the handwritten wordmark, reading "Kimura's Sr." in handwritten Kathya Script-like lettering, and on the bottom of the shirt, reads "Charbroiled Burgers" in handwritten Helvetica lettering. The character model was heavily updated in the works on November 5, 2010.

In 2012, Kimucorp acquired Lotteria, which provided the rights to the Japanese restaurant branch of Kimura's Sr. On May 10, 2013, Kimura's Sr. celebrated its 60th anniversary at its current flagship restaurant in Lewisburg, Tennessee. A poster was shown near the front doors of the Kimura's Sr. restaurant in reenaction to the first restaurant opened as Makoto Kimura's Restaurant Chamber. Although the poster included Winnie the Pooh on the left side of the poster, it remains a memory to remember as Kimucorp continues to operate more than 703 restaurants in 25 states.

In 2015, Kimucorp rebranded the 4 Hardee's stores in Central Florida back into Kimura's Sr. by request from Hirokazu Kimura. Around the following year, Kimucorp acquired Kimura Associates Group Japan. Kimura's Sr. now co-brands with Kimura Associates Group Japan.

In 2017, its headquarters have been moved to Wildwood, Florida. In 2018, following the passing of Makoto Kimura, Hirokazu Kimura made their new slogan: "Pioneers of the Great American Pooh Bear". The new slogan took into action on February 13, 2018. in April 2018, Kimucorp was acquired by the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, allowing Kimucorp to greatly expand long distances for telecommunicating other Kimura's Sr. restaurants out-of-state.

In 2019, Kimura's Sr. opened their 800th restaurant in Cape Coral, Florida, marking a grand total of 150 restaurants within the state.

In May 2020, Kimura's Sr. abandoned indoor dining to combat COVID-19. But customers still can make their orders via drive thru, pick up, or takeaway service.

The 2017 Lewisburg incident
On June 19, 2017, an incident occurred near 910 North Ellington Parkway in Lewisburg, Tennessee. Two suspects named Aidan McCarthy and Willie Durham were arresting Hirokazu Kimura for false charges against Makoto Kimura, but Hirokazu told them that his gun was carried out by a thief. The suspects sent Hirokazu to jail for 4 days. When he was released, the police came by to arrest the two suspects. This left hundreds of customers shot, killed and dead after an attack from a bunch of assaulters who were against the Carl's Jr. - Kimura's Sr. merger campaign. The Marshall County sheriff arrested the assaulters and they were sentenced to death by an electric chair, including the two suspects Aidan McCarthy and Willie Durham for massive shooting of hundreds of customers inside the current flagship restaurant. Hirokazu Kimura was hired again as a long-time founder of Kimura's Sr. restaurants.

Aftermath of the 2017 Lewisburg incident
On July 16, 2019, a poster was set up in the exterior of their current flagship restaurant. Hirokazu Kimura paid tribute to their families and loved ones who have been attacked in the 2017 Lewisburg incident, especially his long-lost cousin Toshinori Davis Kimura (b. May 17, 1947 in Penney Farms, Florida - d. June 19, 2017 in Lewisburg, Tennessee), who died from a fatal attack by the suspect Willie Durham (b. September 30, 1938 in Woodbine, Georgia - d. July 7, 2017 in Lewisburg, Tennessee). Kimura's Sr. launched a campaign called the One Bear, One Life campaign. The campaign shows respect and support for how much the customers love the restaurant company, and how they can give their money to people who survived the 2017 Lewisburg incident.

All for One campaign
The All for One campaign was launched on April 10, 1990 to complete a successful operation with over 300 restaurants in the States and Japan. Dedicated to former workers and employees who suffered from natural causes, the campaign is well organized for a nonprofit organization such as the Kimura SunBurst Financial Group Organization (キムラ サンバースト フィナンシャル グループ組織). Kimura's Sr. teamed up with McDonald's, Burger King, and Hardee's to show support to the franchise, and to keep growing as a subsidiary of Kimucorp Restaurant Holdings (with ownership from Kimura Associates Group Japan, which highly granted Kimura's Sr. for more than ¥450 million per request from Mizuho Financial Group).

Pioneers of the United States of Kimurica campaign
The Pioneers of the United States of Kimurica campaign (キムリカ合衆国のパイオニア - キャンペーン) was launched on December 15, 2008 to strive for greater success to all Kimura's Sr. outlets out-of-state and in-state. Kimucorp's former CEO, Kenji Charles Hirasawa (b. September 27, 1968 in Waldo, Florida), was in this campaign.

Pioneers of the Great American Pooh Bear campaign
The Pioneers of the Great American Pooh Bear campaign was successfully launched on February 13, 2018. The campaign gained success on the new slogan granted by Hirokazu Kimura, which was coined from a quote reference by Carl Hardee Sr. played by Charles Esten. Around the same time, Kimura's Sr. released a commercial featuring Hiroshi Matsuki (b. November 24, 1971 in Dixon, California) as the commander-in-chief of Kimura's Sr., Winnifred Allan Krueger "Pooh" Patrick, Sr. Kimucorp announced the acquirement of Hokka Hokka Tei, Hotto Motto, and MOS Food Services, Inc. (doing business as MOS Burger), allowing Kimucorp to act as a wholly Japanese-owned American parent company under paid ownership of Kimura Corporation Food Services, Ltd. (株式会社キムラ コーポレーション フード サービス), doing business as Winnie's Burger Chain (プーさんのバーガーチェーン). The granted Japanese fast-food chains sold Kimucorp ¥350 billion for acquirement by KCFS.

Co-branding
In most Central Florida locations, Kimura's Sr. parent Kimucorp has begun operating co-branded restaurants with its Pooh Bear group. This same strategy has been used by Kimura Associates USA, Inc. with its McDonald's concepts to expand brands without the additional expense of new buildings and land.