Advertising
For help, call:
It is part of an ongoing series answering “Why?” about Salem and Mid-Valley.
The question: Why doesn’t Salem have a Burgerville? We have the answer. But first, a little history.
The background: Burgerville is a family-owned fast-food chain in Oregon and Southwest Washington.
The late George Propstra, the founder, after taking over his father’s milk business in 1956. The butter and egg business had grown into an ice cream business and then expanded to offer cheese sandwiches in a restaurant.
The first Burgerville opened in 1961 in Vancouver, Washington. It featured hamburgers garnished with a secret sauce, fries and beverages, with walk-up service only.
The secret sauce reportedly was whipped up the night before the first restaurant opened, after Propstra and a friend decided the hamburgers were a bit dry. As the story goes, they threw together a few ingredients, and the secret sauce was born.
The regional burger chain has grown to more than 3 dozen locations, all within a 90-mile radius of its Vancouver headquarters, while focusing on serving new food made with local ingredients.
Like other chains, it has become a place of worship, necessarily because of its burgers.
Burgerville devotees still praise its smoothies, rosemary fries, and fish and halibut fries. The dining spot continues to tap into flavors and products, such as Willamette Valley berry-based smoothies and Walla Walla’s sweet onion rings.
Some of the pieces on their menu can only be consumed in season, adding to their appeal.
People who travel far from the Pacific Northwest complain about how much they miss Burgerville, and it’s one of their first stops when they return to visit. The company has already used it for an advertising campaign, with Propstra reading letters from real customers.
As iconic as Burgerville is in Oregon and Washington state, it’s still unknown to most countries. A small site at Portland International Airport since 2014 would have possibly helped get the message across.
The company has turned its limited market into something positive, from its “misplaced” campaign to its signs outside Burgerville warning drivers that they would pass the last Burgerville in more than 24,000 miles.
Innovative advertising is a component of the chain. One of its best-known classified ads from the early days showed Propstra banging a frozen hamburger in front of a tractor-trailer, taunting national food chains for loading frozen meat from out of state.
Burgerville is proud to have served locally raised Pacific Northwest beef since Day 1.
An ad that even the most hardcore fans probably would never have noticed for their breakfast line, which illustrates the need for breakfast by showing President Ronald Reagan sleeping. The company pulled it after the backlash.
The Burgerville territory covers 39 sites and extends north to Centralia, Washington, south to Corvallis, east to The Dalles, and west to Monmouth.
Salem owned a Burgerville and did so for 14 years.
The restaurant was at 1717 Hawthorne Ave. NE, on the northwest corner of Hawthorne and Market Street NE before the widening of Interstate 5 at that interchange.
This domain is very different nowadays, so it’s tricky to pinpoint its exact location. The company constructed a $100,000 building, according to city rents published in the Statesman Journal, near where the old Newport Bay restaurant stood and where Bag o’ Crab now stands.
Salem Burgerville opened its doors on December 6, 1977, and without delay it endeared itself to the community. The following spring, he sponsored a Parrish Little League team, which he did every year.
The restaurant became a go-to spot for locals and a fun stop for visiting families on their way to or from the Oregon State Fair. Children loved the train inside, where they could sit and eat their burgers and fries.
The location, however, would end up in its undoing.
Salem Burgerville was a victim of the planned widening of I-5 from 4 lanes to six lanes in the early 1990s.
Armed agents from the state’s right-of-way mandate swept the market trade and gobbled up about 40 advertising properties. Denny’s and Trachsel Buick, among other businesses, were forced to close or relocate.
Burgerville was in the middle of expansion plans in 1990, hoping to double in size within the next five years. It had 33 locations at the time.
The company’s president told the Statesman Journal, in a business profile published on May 27, 1990, that officials were looking to build more Burgerville in Salem, though there were no immediate plans.
The article explained how officials also wanted to turn Hawthorne’s restaurant into the new Burgerville prototype, but delayed the task while they waited to learn if the restaurant would be closed due to the planned expansion of the Market Street interchange.
In less than two years, he had the answer. Salem Burgerville closed its doors at the end of January 1992.
Since then, the locals have been craving it.
A 2011 online poll on downtown dominance elicited the following reaction from a Statesman Journal reader: “Why doesn’t the city spend the money and effort to establish a Burgerville in Salem instead of wasting it on its Salem airline fantasies?. . . »
Burgerville’s absence has long been one of many touchy topics, with lengthy comment threads popping up every two years on Reddit and on the Facebook page: “You know you’re from Salem, Oregon, when. . . “»
There’s even a message “Bring Burgerville to Salem!” program. Petition on the website ipetitions. com. Comments show that it dates back to at least 2014. Only 84 other people have signed it, with the most recent being posted on September 26, 2023.
Rumors about Burgerville’s decision not to rebuild or open a location in the state capital have varied over the years. Several versions come with the chain controlling at odds with the city and vowing never to reopen in Salem.
The people would not have been involved in the expropriation process. The Oregon Department of Transportation would have been, and its right-of-way acquisition records were not available for this report.
Current corporate officials told the Statesman Journal that there is no fact to Burgerville’s promise never to return to Salem.
Since the paper’s publication in 2015, some hypotheses have proliferated that Burgerville would open a Corvallis location in a former Wendy’s location. A Burgerville official at the time provided this explanation related to Salem’s departure:
“Market Street was widened and we were condemned and kicked out of there. They actually put structural appliances on the old Burgerville site. When they took over, they didn’t need to sell these assets to us. This eating place has never done very well. All good . So we weren’t in a big rush to update it.
Company officials now say it wasn’t suffering and wasn’t exceeding sales expectations.
Salem area citizens have two Burgerville features within a short drive: Albany and Monmouth. Albany opened around 1973 and Monmouth around 1984.
Burgerville has searched for a location at Keiser Station at least twice, once at the beginning of progress and once later. It’s unclear why those potential projects never came to fruition.
But there is good news for Burgerville fans. The company is again exploring local options.
For more than a year, there has been communication from Burgerville’s at the former Sonic Drive-In locations, one on Lancaster Drive SE and one on River Road N in Keizer.
Burgerville officials would not confirm or deny, but they did say the company has missed being in Salem, is looking forward to returning, and is pursuing many locations in and around Salem.
An announcement is expected soon, next week.
Capi Lynn is a senior reporter for the Statesman Journal. Submit your “Why does this happen?” questionsA clynn@statesmanjournal. com.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Why doesn’t Salem have a Burgerville? Dispelling the rumors
Advertisement
Advertising
Advertising
Ad
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertising
Advertising
Advertising
Advertisement
Ad