ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Tuesday, December 10, 1996             TAG: 9612100134
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-2  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: SARASOTA, FLA.
                                             TYPE: NEWS OBIT 

SHONEY'S FOUNDER, 81, DIES

Alex Schoenbaum, 81, who built the Shoney's restaurant chain from a small drive-in in West Virginia, died Friday.

Schoenbaum opened the Parkette restaurant in Charleston in 1947. It grew to include Big Boy restaurant franchises, and in 1953 was renamed Shoney's. The company split with the Big Boy restaurants in the 1970s. There are now about 1,800 Shoney's restaurants in 36 states.

- The New York Times

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