Saying farewell to the man behind Sonic's boom

Troy Smith had a long list of restaurant failures before he opened his fist Sonic drive-in in 1959. With its angled parking spaces and servers on roller skates, Sonic was an instant hit. Smith franchised the brand for $500 a pop, plus 1.5 cents for each burger sold. By the time Smith died last week, Sonic was the 12th-largest restaurant chain in the U.S., with 2008 sales of $3.8 billion.

Wall Street Journal, The | 10/29

This story published in SmartBrief on Entrepreneurs on 11/04/2009

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