In 1925, he bought a small soda shop in the Wollaston neighborhood of Quincy, Massachusetts. He enhanced the quality of the ice cream by buying a recipe from a pushcart vendor for $300. It doubled the butterfat of the product and used only natural flavorings. He used hand-cranked makers in his basement and by 1928 was grossing about $240,000 from ice cream sold in the store and nearby beaches.

Johnson expanded operations by opening more stores and started selling food items such as hamburgers and frankfurters at his original store. In 1929, he opened a second restaurant in Quincy. This sit-down outlet had a broader menu and laid the groundwork for future expansion.

In 1935, Howard Johnson teamed up with a local businessman, Reginald Sprague, and created the first modern restaurant franchise. The idea was new in that day: let an operator use the name, food, supplies, and logo, in exchange for a fee. The business of “HoJo” chain restaurants rapidly expanded and he also entered the lodging industry.

Johnson retired in 1959, leaving the company to his son, Howard Brennan (“Bud”) Johnson. The older Johnson continued to monitor his restaurants for cleanliness and proper food preparation. He would be chauffeured in a black Cadillac bearing the license plate HJ-28 (his initials and 28 ice cream flavors) while performing unannounced inspections of the restaurants.

Johnson died on June 20, 1972, at the age of 75. He was buried in Milton Cemetery in Milton, Massachusetts.

In 1999, Johnson was inducted to the Hospitality Industry Hall of Honor, which recognizes the world’s most successful hospitality interests and most recognizable brands.

He recalled that he had no interest or time for anything but building his business. “I think that [building the business] was my only form of recreation,” Joseph H. Boyett quoted him as having said in The Guru Guide to Entrepreneurship: A Concise Guide to the Best Ideas from the World’s Top Entrepreneurs, which was published in 2001. “I never played golf. I never played tennis. I never did anything after I left school. I ate, slept, and thought of nothing but the business.”