The previous two have been a challenge for Joe Rogers, Jr., the Chairman of Waffle House. The 24-hour breakfast spot had continued operations despite the COVID-19 crisis.

Other Disasters in Waffle House History

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the business had been through a lot of disasters in the past but they continued their operations nonetheless. Even the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) makes use of a Waffle House Index to measure their severity, says an article. 

In 1989, Hurricane Hugo was not able to shut the doors for a long time in Charleston. Similarly, a scenario occurred in Georgia with Irma when it caused havoc two years ago. The index showed green in Joplin, Mo. This was after a tornado took the lives of 158 people in 2011.

The Arrival of the COVID-19 Pandemic

According to Rogers, he had never seen anything that brought such devastation as COVID-19. Rogers is the 73-year-old son of the co-founder of the 65-year-old breakfast food chain. Waffle House was established in the 1970s. 

Based on Rogers' statement, The business had been through many disasters. Each disaster had damaged a part of the business, and the management always comes in to rescue the business.

He reasoned that the rest of the system was healthy to go do those tasks. However, for the COVID-19 crisis, there is no healthy portion of this system. The business is spending cash every week, he added. 

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The FEMA Index

The FEMA index makes use of the period it takes the different Waffle House locations to re-open after a calamity occurs. Typically, this does not take a long time, even after they shut down. 

The 2,000 branches in 25 US states are well-positioned to mobilize in a catastrophic event. 

According to Rogers, the business is family-owned and is closely controlled. This allows effective transfers of resources and supplies originating from unaffected restaurant branches. 

Closing 20% of Total Branches

This week, Waffle House had 420 branches of the breakfast chain were closed. That's a huge 20 percent of their business locations. 


On normal operations, Waffle House reports annual revenue of at least $1.3 billion. However, the business can only offer drive-through and take-out services right now due to the multiple lockdowns and stay-at-home orders across the country.

This led the business to achieve only 30% of what they normally earn from their sales. Thousands of the business' staff are also unfortunately laid off. 

Taking On Every Challenge 

The admiration of FEMA to Waffle House had started approximately 50 years ago when Rogers took control of the business while taking on every challenge that hurricanes brought forth in different states of the country. 

Rogers discovered that when he showed up to a branch and helped with service, so did a lot of the business' employees. 

Joe Rogers, Jr. Inheriting the Business

Rogers was 26 when he entered the business in 1973. During that time, the business had four-family ownership groups, and his family had only 30 percent control over the different locations of the business. 

This changed after five years when a financial crisis hit the nation. During that period, the gas shortage started to surface. This led to the consolidation of ownership within Rogers' family. Currently, their family has a controlling interest in the business. 

He devised an employee ownership plan which gives 3,500 staff of the business with a portion of ownership in the business. Rogers was also successful at ending the reliance of the business on debt.