HENDERSONVILLE, TENNESSEE Less than a year after winning a trademark fight for the right to the Shoney’s Inn economy hotel brand, Boomerang Hotels has sold the franchise rights back to Shoney’s North America Corp.
Boomerang had announced its intent in January to reintroduce the scuttled Shoney’s Inn brand, but the company has since changed course. “It has become clear to us that the best course of action for our franchisees and our company is to cease the relaunch and sell the brand back to Shoney’s North America Corp.,” Boomerang says in a statement. “We will continue instead with our own brands of GuestHouse International and Settle Inn.”
There are two properties operating under the Shoney’s Inn flag, in Monroe, Louisiana, and Winchester, Virginia.
Nashville, Tennessee-based Shoney’s North America Corp. operates more than 200 Shoney’s family restaurants across 17 U.S. states. Shoney’s Inn was launched in 1975 by the founders of the restaurant brand. The hotel operation was later spun off and was eventually acquired by Boomerang. Royal Hospitality Corp., parent company of the restaurant company, filed a trademark lawsuit in 2007, but Boomerang won the rights to keep the Shoney’s Inn name last year.
Boomerang operates more than 6,500 guestrooms in the United States, along with two GuestHouse International properties in China.