Arby’s was founded in Boardman, Ohio, in 1964 by Forrest and Leroy Raffel, owners of a restaurant equipment business who believed there was a market opportunity for a fast food franchise based on a food other than hamburgers. The brothers wanted to call their restaurants “Big Tex,” but that name was being used by an Akron business. Instead, they chose the name “Arby’s,” based on R. B., the initials of Raffel Brothers.
The Raffel brothers opened the first new restaurant in Boardman, Ohio, just outside Youngstown, on July 23, 1964. They initially served only roast beef sandwiches, potato chips and soft drinks. A year later, the first Arby’s licensee opened a restaurant in Akron, Ohio.
The famous Arby’s “hat” was designed by the original signmakers, Peskin Sign Co. Expansion to other states began in 1968, beginning in Pittsburgh (the closest large out-of-state market to Youngstown) and Detroit. The restaurants were initially designed to be more upscale than their hamburger competitors.
