IHOP And Aramark Form Campus Partnership

IHOP, the all-day breakfast and late-night dining concept sometimes frequented by diners in pajama pants, is perhaps uniquely suited to college campuses. IHOP and Aramark, which have already found success with one college venture, are expanding their partnership under a two-year test program to develop five IHOP Express and/or IHOP U concept restaurants on college campuses throughout the United States.

The breakfast chain and the foodservice management company currently operate an IHOP Express at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and are in the final planning stages for a site at Virginia Commonwealth University.

While IHOP will continue to expand primarily through traditional restaurant outlets and counts on 60-70 new-unit openings by franchisees this year, expanding through non-traditional campus locations is part of a larger brand-expansion strategy. Along with non-traditional locations, the company has kicked off a licensing program that allows select business partners to use the IHOP name in key product categories.

Currently, there are 1,483 IHOPs in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. IHOP restaurants are franchised and operated by Glendale, Calif.-based International House of Pancakes, LLC, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of DineEquity Inc.