In a fast food industry dominated by mega conglomerates, often-unappealing, bland meals, one Wisconsin company has found a way to break the mold.
Culver’s opened its first Wisconsin store in 1984 in Sauk City, a small central Wisconsin town along the Wisconsin River. George Culver purchased an A&W Root Beer stand and renovated it into the forerunner of the chain we know today, operating with his wife, Ruth, his son, Craig and Craig’s wife, Lea.
Today, with Craig running the company, the chain is one of Wisconsin’s most-recognizable brands and has an expansive reach not just in Wisconsin, but also across the Midwest and throughout other regions of the country, too. In fact, by the end of the week, when a new restaurant opens in Lansing, Mich., Culver’s will have 443 locations, almost all of them independently owned and operated, in 19 states.