Pennsylvania, 1956–1963, founded by Jack Engel) In the mid to late 1950s Alex Schoenbaum seeded various franchises including Tune's. Two drive-in restaurants opened. By the early 1960s, the Levittown unit closed and the other was rebranded as Shoney's. Vip's (New Mexico, Texas, Wyoming, 19621982. founded by Daniel T. Hogan and James O'Conner) Vip's refers to two distinct restaurant chains. The Big Boy franchisee relevant here, Vip's Big Boy of New Mexico, was acquired by JB's Big Boy in 1972 but continued using the Vip's name until rebranded in 1982. The other, Vip's Restaurants of Salem, Oregon, was not a Big Boy franchisee but sold units to JB's Big Boy, which operated them as Bob's Big Boy. The non-Big Boy, Salem-based chain had 53 locations at its peak, all sold and rebranded, including 35 to Denny's in 1982 and 16 to JB's in 1984. [R] Yoda's (Western Virginia, founded by Jack Young and Bill Schroeder) Young was Leonard Goldstein's (Lendy's) brother-in-law. Merged with Lendy's. Outside the United States Mady's Big Boy of Windsor, Ontario, was not a franchisee, though sometimes identified as one and using a similar looking mascot. In 1965 Bob Wian sued Mady's for trademark infringement but failed because (his) Big Boy was judged not widely known in Canada. The case is considered important in Canadian and international trademark law. In 1973 Elias Brothers bought Mady's and established an Elias Big Boy on Mady's original site. John Bitove, Sr. owned the rights to Big Boy for the remainder of Canada, which he sold to Elias Brothers in 1979. During the mid to late 1980's there was one in Nassau, Bahamas. Big Boy also operated (or planned to open) restaurants in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Brazil, the Philippines and Thailand. Japan Outside of North America, Big Boy Japan owns and operates 274 Big Boy Hamburger Steak & Grill Restaurants in Japan. Founded in 1977, Big Boy Japan now also operates 45 Victoria Station restaurants in Japan and is a subsidiary of Zénsho Holdings Co., Ltd. The Japanese Big Boy Restaurants do not offer the Big Boy hamburger or most other American Big Boy menu items, offering a distinct menu instead. They also offer beer and wine. Zensho had purchased Big Boy Japan from the ailing Daiei in 2002 for 8.65 billion yen. Like Frisch, Big Boy Japan operates independently of the Big Boy Restaurant Group. Southeast Asia and Western Pacific