In 1978, a new fast-food chicken idea was hatched - and it was owned by Columbus, Ohio based Wendy's. That idea was Sisters Chicken & Biscuits. The first Sisters Chicken in the Cleveland area was built in 1981 at 15201 Euclid avenue in East Cleveland.
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| Sisters Chicken & Biscuits 15201 Euclid Ave. |
During building, complaints were made that no African-Americans were at all involved in the development or construction of Sisters Chicken. In response, Sisters parent company hired a firm that developed an affirmative action plan for staffing the East Cleveland location.
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| Sisters Chicken & Biscuits 15201 Euclid Ave. circa 1989 |
This location, along with others in Detroit, Michigan; Lansing, Michigan; Memphis, Tennessee; and Huntington, West Virginia were built as a one-year test of the business. East Cleveland Sisters opened in summer 1981.
Euclid's Sisters Chicken & Biscuits opened approximately 2 years later, in 1983, at 26030 Euclid avenue. Very soon after, the Mentor, Ohio Sisters Chicken opened at 7763 Mentor avenue.
Before Sisters Chicken in Euclid, it was vacant land. In the maps below, Clarkin's was already built in 1977. In 1982, buildings were starting to go up along Euclid avenue. The Sisters Chicken building in circled in 1994.
1983 through 1985 proved to be profitable years for Sisters Chicken & Biscuits. Expansion was happening, with restaurants costing about $500,000 to build. These restaurants seated between 84 and 100 and had a "country" feel. Some Sisters Chicken locations offered a salad and baked potato bar, such as the location at 6330 Brookpark road. Others had a drive-thru window. The company went public on May 26, 1983.
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| Sisters Chicken ad from February 1985 with Northern Ohio locations listed |
The Hennings, who manned SIS Corp. (operator of over a dozen Sisters Chicken locations in 1985, and the first franchisees in 1981) felt the future looked bright for fast food in general.
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| Thomas Hennings, president and chairman of SIS Corp. sees only good things in 1986 |
Just a few months later in 1987, Sis Corp. purchased Sisters Chicken & Biscuits from Wendys for $14.5 million, and increased holdings from 20 restaurants in Northeast Ohio to 70, including locations in six other states. According to security analyst Jeffrey Stein of McDonald & Co., SIS Corp was "the only Sisters franchise that was growing."
Wendy's remarked that they sold Sisters in order to concentrate on the hamburger business. Hennings hoped that the already profitable chicken joint would become more so as Wendy's had two separate corporate staffs for Wendy's and Sisters restaurants.
Adding to the 55 stores in Ohio and 15 franchised locations in Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Virginia, and Utah, SIS planned to open new between four and six Sisters Chicken and Biscuits stores in Toledo and the Cleveland-Akron-Canton area in 1987. SIS expected to begin franchising again in 1988.
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| Hennings was shooting to "cover the nation" with Sisters Chicken and Biscuits |
The acquisition was final on April 1, 1987. For the quarter ending March 31, 1987, Sisters announced a loss of $338,874. A year earlier, that loss total had come in substantially lower at $26,746. Thomas A. Hennings said, "I believe SIS Corp. lost sales momentum in a generally weak quarter for the industry due to an uncertain environment created by our acquisition negotiations. We expect improvement in overall performance in the months ahead."
In late 1987 SIS Corp. recouped a bit financially to the tune of $11 million from a sale-leaseback of 26 of its 59 stores. 17 were sold to Franchise Corp. of America, and 9 to an undisclosed privately owned investment concern. A sale-leaseback is when a company sells their land ownership and/or properties to raise cash, then leases the properties over a long period of time. SIS CFO at the time Richard Longstreth put it plainly: "We're converting current debt to long-term debt." And with a few repayments, including $2.4 million to Wendy's, they were officially an independent entity.
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| Remember these? Zero insulation, flimsy cap, and they were everywhere. |
A $450,000 payment was due on September 30, 1988. Of the original $14.5 million loan, $7.75 million was still outstanding. The banks gave SIS until October 19th to make the payment. Longstreth cited a rough fast-food market due to salmonella scares and drought conditions. Sisters was also facing competition from KFC, new kid in town Popeye's Chicken, and Church's. He also went on to say, "SIS Corp. is in no danger of filing Chapter 11." However, in that same month, Thomas Hennings remarked that Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection was an alternative the firm was considering.
October came and went, and in December 1988 SIS Corp. still could not make the $450,000 payment. They asked for yet another extension and the lender refused to extend the grace period past the date of December 2, 1988. With lenders Society and Ameritrust no longer playing ball, the Hennings and company sought out alternatives. The restaurants remained open.
In March of 1989, SIS Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Longstreth stated that the 22 locations would remain open and 2,000 employees would not be laid off and had enough cash to meet payroll. Unfortunately, no reorganization plan came to fruition and in June of 1990, they were given 45 days to submit a new reorganization plan to bankruptcy court. Quite simply, the financing just couldn't be obtained. Restaurants still remained open. All the assets were expected to be for sale by the Fall of 1990.
Just before Christmas that same year, Robert Wyman, who owned 8 Burger King franchises at one time, bought 40 open and operating Sisters Chicken and Biscuits. The cost? A mere $3 million.
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| Wyman in 2023 |
Wyman had just finished selling his last Burger King in 1989. At the time he purchased Sisters Chicken, he owned Burger Bob's restaurant in Mayfield Heights, Ohio.
The restaurant Wyman purchased were in Cleveland (13), Columbus (21), and Toledo (6). The 15 restaurants that had already closed would remain closed, and remained in bankruptcy court.
Wyman intended to make the menu simpler, change the packaging and pricing. He also felt strongly about waste, and vowed that no foil or styrofoam packaging would be used.
And this was the beginning of the end. Bob closed Burger Bob's and decided to move his that burger menu to the Sisters Chicken in Mayfield and Warrensville Center Road in South Euclid. Bob also converted some Sisters locations to Italian Oven restaurants.
The Euclid Sisters Chicken and Biscuits was closed in 1990 or 1991. I believe it was closed prior to Wyman's purchase.
In 1992, it became Jenny's Chicken & Chinese Cuisine.
And later became known as Stir Crazy Jenny's Chicken in 1994.
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| Stir Crazy Jenny's Chicken 26030 Euclid Ave |
In 2025, 26030 Euclid avenue is a Popeye's Chicken! You know, the very same that was giving Sisters a run for their money back in the late 80's.
Sometimes you can't really tell if a place was rebuilt or remodeled. This is not fooling anybody. The door on the front remains. The wrap around hip roof is identical. This is the kind of Popeye's that if you yell, they will yell back, but I would risk if it were still a Sisters.
I really miss Sisters Chicken. I was obsessed with it when I was 8 and 9 years old. I saw Leon Bibb there one time, and have had a low key crush on him ever since. It must have been the mashed potatoes, the lighting, the country charm.
Tell me about your Sisters experience. Everyone raves about the rice but I remember the mashed potatoes with a peppery white gravy and I've been chasing that high since 1990.
Enjoy some digital ephemera I've hoarded over the years.
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