BY DANIELLE BUENROSTRO
First Prize Rose Harry Rose shows how it ’ s done
Harry Rose , founder and chairman of The Rose Group , is a winner . In 2016 , for the second year in a row , Applebee ’ s named Rose its Franchisee of the Year . He also knows how to hire : also for the second year in a row , Bonnie Lippincott , his COO , was named Applebee ’ s Operator of the Year . He ’ s not doing too badly with Corner Bakery Cafe either . The brand named The Rose Group its 2015 Franchise Developer of the Year , and individual locations and team members were recognized by the brand for their outstanding achievements that year .
“ It ’ s an incredible recognition ,” says Rose , 72 . “ It ’ s all about hiring the right people and giving them the challenge to execute . They carry on the culture I established 31 years ago .”
And that ’ s just the tip of the iceberg of the long list of honors bestowed on the company , which began with five Roy
Rogers in 1985 . Today The Rose Group operates 56 Applebee ’ s , 9 Corner Bakery Cafes , and 2 Shannon Rose Irish Pubs , employing 4,500 people across New Jersey , Pennsylvania , Maryland , and Delaware .
Before becoming a franchisee , Rose spent 20 years with Marriott Corp . Starting in Marriott ’ s finance training program , he moved on to work in property management , legal , real estate , and finance . He then became controller for Roy Rogers , the fast food chain founded by Marriott in 1968 , and was promoted to chief financial officer .
In 1982 , he moved to Philadelphia to head up the mid-Atlantic market , which included 27 Roy Rogers restaurants in Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey . During that time , Marriott bought the 300-plus-unit Gino ’ s restaurant chain and Rose was placed in charge of converting them all to Roy Rogers restaurants . After two-and-a-half years , Rose had taken Roy Rogers from 27 to 156 locations .
Although he helped the company achieve great success , his heart was in the operations side of the business . When he bought those five Roy Rogers restaurants in 1985 , he ’ d been looking to buy 25 . “ I wanted to create something ,” says Rose . “ This was the beginning of my career in
NAME : Harry T . Rose TITLE : Founder , chairman COMPANY : The Rose Group
NO . OF UNITS : 56 Applebee ’ s Grill & Bars , 9 Corner Bakery Cafes , 2 Shannon Rose Irish Pubs
AGE : 72
FAMILY : Wife Carol Rose , two sons , four grandchildren
YEARS IN FRANCHISING : 31 YEARS IN CURRENT POSITION : 31
26 MULTI-UNIT FRANCHISEE ISSUE I , 2017