Salem’s Early Christmas Gift: Bob’s will Open During the Holiday Season
Bob's will be opening this October in the food court of the Salem Center mall in downtown Salem, through the holiday season, seven days a week.
(SALEM, Ore. ) — For Salem, the summer of 2014 could go down in the record books as the summer of Bob’s Hamburgers.
Former owner Bob Corey signed a two year deal with Golden Grill Concession owner Gina Dankenbring to bring the Salem fast food landmark back this past summer to the Marion County Fair, the Salem Hoopla, and the Oregon State Fair.
Now, Dankenbring says they will be opening this October in the food court of the Salem Center mall in downtown Salem, through the holiday season, seven days a week.
Dankenbring and her family, along with the Corey family, feel this temporary venture will be the best way to give Bob’s fans their fix of his famous hamburgers, and secret sauce, while they discuss future plans for the business.
The target opening date is Friday, October 10. Menu prices and hours of operation will be posted in the near future on the Golden Grill Concessions Facebook page.
Thousands of people near and far, enjoyed the return of Bob’s Hamburgers this past summer.
Oregon was blessed to have a man who saw a vision of how a fast food chain should operate -- by selling quality food at low prices, and treating their employees right -- that vision became Bob’s Hamburgers.
Corey, now 95 years young, was the founder of the Bob's Hamburgers chain which began in Salem in 1955, with his first location at Capitol and Hood Street. He offered hamburgers at 19-cents, french fries for 11-cents, a shrimp burger for 39-cents, milkshakes 21-cents, and soft drinks a whopping 10-cents. The stores closed in 2001.
Bob Corey‘s mission statement was clear from the beginning: “Customers are our most valuable asset. They are highly perishable and must be treated as such. The customer is ALWAYS right. If we maintain a clean restaurant, treat him with courtesy, serve him the highest quality food, and make him feel we sincerely appreciate his business, he will be back. He is the one who is paying the bills. He makes our jobs possible. He is KING. Make him feel like it.”
He and his family grew the fast food chain into a Willamette Valley, and Central Oregon hot-spot with restaurant locations in Salem, Keizer, West Salem, and the Lancaster Mall, as well as stores in Bend, Redmond, Springfield, Eugene, and Junction City. At one time there were also locations in Grants Pass and Medford.
