Boston Market

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Boston Market Corp.
Image:BostonMarketLogo2006.gif
Type	Wholly owned subsidiary
Founded	1985 (Newton, Mass.)
Headquarters	Golden, Colorado
Key people	Richard K. Aras, President & CEO
Industry	Fast-casual restaurant
Employees	14,000 (2007)
Parent	Sun Capital Partners Inc.
Slogan	Time For Something Good
Website	bostonmarket.com

Boston Market (known before 1995 as Boston Chicken), headquartered in Golden, Colorado, is a chain of American fast casual restaurants. Founded in December 1985 in Newton, Massachusetts, the chain grew rapidly in the early and mid-1990s, filed bankruptcy in the late 1990s, and was purchased by McDonald's Corporation in May 2000. McDonald's initially purchased the company for its real estate, but found the brand serviceable and therefore continued to operate and expand the chain. In 2007, McDonald's announced that it was "exploring strategic options" for this subsidiary, which is a term that could include options such as a sale of the business to another corporation, a management buy-out, or a public offering of the company.^[1] On 6 August 2007, McDonald's announced plans to sell the chain to Sun Capital Partners,^[2] a transaction that was completed on August 27, 2007.^[3]

The third Boston Market logo (used from 2003-2006).

Image:Boston Market.JPG

Boston Market #529, in Clovis, California.

Boston Market has its greatest presence in the Northeastern United States. As of August 2007, the chain has 630 locations in 28 states,^[4] with 14,000 employees. At one point in the early 2000s, Boston Market operated two locations in Toronto. In early 2002, Boston Market entered the Australian market, opening nine stores in the Sydney metropolitan area by 2004, before quietly exiting the Australian market later that year due to competitive pressures in the fast-food market.

When still known as Boston Chicken, stores specialized in rotisserie chicken and a variety of side dishes, but in 1995 the chain expanded its menu to include turkey, meatloaf, roasted sirloin, and sandwiches, and changed the name to Boston Market to reflect this. The stores offer a number of other items, such as ham and white cod (both of which are still sold during certain holidays). A selection of the company's menu has been available since April 1999 in many supermarkets across the U.S.^{[citation needed]} Frozen meals and side dishes are sold nationally under the Boston Market brand name, although they are made by H. J. Heinz Company. In April 2004, Boston Market introduced chilled menu items to be sold at supermarkets. As of December 2005, these chilled menu items are available in 700 supermarkets.^{[citation needed]} Boston Market also caters, providing hot lunch buffets and sandwiches for office parties, meetings, family gatherings, picnics, and weddings.