Henry's Hamburgers (Benton Harbor MI)
Henry’s Hamburgers began as a part of the Bressler’s Ice Cream Company’s efforts to get in on the drive inn business in the 1950’s. In the early 60’s, there were over 200 Henry’s (more stores than MacDonalds at the time!) from coast to coast, with the operations headquarters in Chicago, IL.
Don Bishop and Harold Shook opened the Benton Harbor Henry’s in April of 1959, in the new Fairplain Plaza Shopping Center. They established a reputation for service and value, listening to their customers instead of the franchisor, which enabled them to remain in business after the Henry’s chain ceased to be a player in the 1970’s. This was strictly a carryout business until the addition of drive thru service in 1988, which now accounts for over 70% of sales.
Wayne Senecal and Dave Slavicek bought out the Bishop/Shook family in 1983, embarking on a major updating of the facility. The drive thru service system was updated in 1999. With a change of ownership in the Fairplain Plaza and an obsolete building to content with, Henry’s decided to build a new, state of the art “hamburger factory”, almost directly across the street for the original store. Dave Slavicek bought out Wayne Senecal in 2006.
Henry's Hamburgers (Benton Harbor MI)
Henry’s Hamburgers began as a part of the Bressler’s Ice Cream Company’s efforts to get in on the drive inn business in the 1950’s. In the early 60’s, there were over 200 Henry’s (more stores than MacDonalds at the time!) from coast to coast, with the operations headquarters in Chicago, IL.
Don Bishop and Harold Shook opened the Benton Harbor Henry’s in April of 1959, in the new Fairplain Plaza Shopping Center. They established a reputation for service and value, listening to their customers instead of the franchisor, which enabled them to remain in business after the Henry’s chain ceased to be a player in the 1970’s. This was strictly a carryout business until the addition of drive thru service in 1988, which now accounts for over 70% of sales.
Wayne Senecal and Dave Slavicek bought out the Bishop/Shook family in 1983, embarking on a major updating of the facility. The drive thru service system was updated in 1999. With a change of ownership in the Fairplain Plaza and an obsolete building to content with, Henry’s decided to build a new, state of the art “hamburger factory”, almost directly across the street for the original store. Dave Slavicek bought out Wayne Senecal in 2006.