For example I am right now sitting in an Arby’s. I’m trying to figure out what business was here before Arby’s? Which would’ve been at least 20 years ago.
Is there a website or someplace that I could easily search this information at, preferably for free.
Edit: the arbys building was built when they moved in. I’m curious what business was there before.
Important caveat that many (most?) businesses lease their space so there’s a good chance the legal owner is just something like “123 Main Street Partners, LP” (often literally just the actual street address as the substantive part of the name), which won’t tell you anything about what business was there. The lessee’s name, however, is likely to be on some permits, so that would be another approach if the registered owner ends up a dead end.
This is a good point. Franchises are less likely to have a recognizable corporate name, if they even own the property at all. But for more established companies or long-time small businesses, the owner entity’s name might be a good giveaway as to what they did.