In 1939, he developed a method of using pressure cooker to fry chicken.
When he was forty years old he moved to Corbin, Kentucky where he ran a gas station, but it burned down after a few years.
Sanders rebuilt it and added a motel and a place to eat. In 1956 Colonel Sanders sold Corbin, Kentucky, restaurant and enlist new franchisees. By 1964, from humble beginning, Colonel Sanders had 600 franchise outlets for his chicken across United States and Canada.
Sanders sold his business to two Louisville businessmen – Jack Massey and John Young Brown in 1964 for $2 million. He remained active as a spokesman for the firm and his image became a key part of the developing Kentucky Fried Chicken.
The company boomed under Massey and Brown’s direction selling shares publicly on the New York Stock Exchange in 1966, and growing in size to 3500 company owned or franchised outlets by 1970.
Sanders dies in 1980. In 1994 KFC adds non-fried chicken to menus in the US and Australia.
The success of Sander’s brand also increased the overall popularity of chicken as a mainstream American food, causing a surge of domestic chicken production and consumption.
Business history of Kentucky Fried Chicken
