American companies that are no longer American

Burger King

Current owner: Restaurant Brands International, Canadian fast-food company

In 1954 James McLamore and David Edgerton opened a small hamburger shop called “Insta Burger King” in Miami, selling 18-cent hamburgers and milkshakes. Three years later, they dropped the “Insta,” added a gas grill, and created the signature “Whopper” burger.

In 1967, the duo sold the chain to the Pillsbury Company and it became the second-largest burger chain in the US after McDonald’s. In the decades that followed, the chain changed hands several times after a series of mergers and acquisitions with its parent company, before going public in 2006. In 2010 it was sold to private-equity firm 3G Capital and went back to being privately owned.

Today, it’s part of Restaurant Brands International, a Canadian fast food company that was formed when Burger King merged with the Canadian coffee and doughnuts chain Tim Horton’s. It is still backed by 3G Capital.

Trader Joe’s

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Current owner: Aldi Nord, German discount supermarket chain

Trader Joe’s dates back to 1967 when California-based convenience store owner Joe Coulombe decided to start stocking obscure and discontinued foods in order to give himself an edge over impending competition from 7-Eleven.

The first Trader Joe’s store is still open in California, but the business has since changed hands. It was bought by Theo Albrecht, owner of the German supermarket brand Aldi Nord, in 1979.

Lucky Strike

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Current owner: British American Tobacco company, a British tobacco company

Lucky Strike, once America’s top-selling cigarette brand, was established in 1871 in Virginia and subsequently taken over by a large American tobacco company.

It fell into the hands of the Brits in the ’70s when the British American Tobacco company bought its former owner.

American Apparel

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Current owner: Gildan Activewear, Canadian clothing company

California brand American Apparel made a name for itself with its “Made in USA — Sweatshop Free,” slogan, and it claimed that it was the largest clothing manufacturer in North America. This business model worked for two decades, but in 2015 the company filed for bankruptcy and spent two years trying to recover.

In 2017, the Canadian clothing company Gildan bought American Apparel’s intellectual property rights — and some of its manufacturing equipment — for $88 million.

7-Eleven

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Current owner: Seven & i Holdings, Japanese retail group

We have Jefferson Green to thank for convenience stores. Green was a Southland Ice Company employee in 1927 when he started selling milk, bread, and eggs from the ice house on Sundays and holidays when everything else was closed, according to the 7-Eleven company website. He renamed his store 7-Eleven to reflect the store’s opening hours from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. This laid the foundations of the all-hours stores that we have today.

After the financial crash in 1987, the company was bought by Ito-Yokado, part of Seven & I Holdings, the Japanese parent company of the store today.

Sunglass Hut

Shutterstock/Heather Shimmin

Current owner: Luxottica Group, Italian eyewear company

Sunglass Hut has its roots in Miami, where optometrist Sanford Ziff set up a kiosk in a mall in 1971. By 1986 he had opened his 100th store. The Ziff family sold their share of the business in 1991.

Today, it is owned by the Italian eyewear company Luxottica, which bought the chain for $462 million in 2001.

Holiday Inn

Shutterstock/Jonathan Weiss

Current owner: InterContinental Hotels, British hotel company

The first Holiday Inn was opened by businessman Kemmons Wilson in Memphis, Tennessee. Wilson came up with the idea while on a family trip to Washington, DC, after he found there were no comfortable and affordable places for families to stay. His business was taken over by InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) between 1988 and 1990, and IHG has stayed its parent company ever since.

Hellman’s

Current owner: Unilever, Dutch-British consumer goods company

The French may have been the first to invent mayonnaise, but Hellman’s is responsible for making it a staple condiment in most American kitchens. German immigrant Richard Hellmann opened up a delicatessen in New York City in 1905 and found that his homemade condiment was so popular that he started to sell it separately. 

In 1932, the company was acquired by Best Foods, another mayonnaise seller on the West Coast. In 2000, Best Foods was bought by consumer goods conglomerate Unilever for $20.3 billion. To this day, the two brands operate separately. Hellmann’s Mayonnaise is sold east of the Rockies and Best Foods Mayonnaise is sold west.