The first Wayback Burgers location was opened in 1991 in Delaware under the name Jake's Hamburgers. Several more locations were opened, leading to the beginning of franchising in the early 2000s where the name was changed to Jake's Wayback Burgers in 2010. To date, the chain has expanded to 95 locations, with an additional 75 currently in development. They are spread throughout the United States, ranging from New England, New York, Florida, Texas, Ohio, and California. Wayback is similar to other 'better burger' brands such as
Five Guys,
Shake Shack, and
Fuddruckers. The first location in the state of
Ohio was opened in
Wadsworth in June 2011. The first location in the state of
Indiana was opened in
Evansville in March 2012. The 50th location was opened in
Brooklyn,
New York City in July 2012. The first location in the state of
New Hampshire was opened in
Salem in August 2012. The first location in the state of
South Carolina was opened in
Spartanburg in January 2013. In August 2013, the first location in the state of
Texas was opened in
Waxahachie and the first location in the state of
Minnesota was opened in
Woodbury. The first location in the state of
Colorado was opened in
Colorado Springs in November 2013. During the summer of 2014, the chain announced the drop of "Jake's" from the title to deter confusion with a smaller competitor in the southern United States. Many locations will keep existing signage with the name "Jake's" on storefronts, but all new franchises will be known as "Wayback Burgers". The first location in the state of
Georgia was opened in
Savannah in January 2015. As part of a publicity stunt, Wayback offered milkshakes made with protein powder derived from
crickets in June 2015 as part of a limited-time offer. As a bug-free alternative during the same promotional period, Wayback also offered a beef flavored shake that was garnished with a
Slim Jim. The first location in the state of
Illinois was opened in
Naperville in May 2016. In 2016, Wayback Burgers investigated the possibility of an
initial public offering but did not proceed further.
International expansion The first location outside the United States was opened in
Palermo, Buenos Aires, in
Argentina in February 2015. Nine months later, the first location in
Saudi Arabia was opened in
Al Khobar in November 2015 on the other side of the planet. This was the second location to open outside the United States. The first location in the Southeast Asian country of
Brunei was opened in the Setia Kenangan area in
Kiulap in May 2016, making this the third location outside the United States. In Europe, Wayback Burgers opened its first location in the city of
Breda in the
Netherlands, on December 1, 2018. In Japan, Wayback Burgers opened its first location in
Omotesando,
Japan, on March 22, 2022. The company has plans to open 60 more locations in Japan over the next 20 years. ==References==