Mary Lou Baun of Austintown, left, and daughter Susan Baun of Columbiana eat hot dogs Tuesday afternoon at the Hot Dog Shoppe in Warren.

WARREN — The Hot Dog Shoppe here, with its spinning weenie on top, and two other restaurants like it in the Mahoning Valley have been sold by the family that founded the iconic brand — but don’t expect much change, the new owner says.

Restaurant industry veterans, and brothers, Greg and Nick Vojnovic bought the Hot Dog Shoppes in Warren, Girard and East Liverpool in Columbiana County from the Trevelline and Doverspike families.

Paul Trevelline founded the brand in 1946.

“These are iconic restaurants that have been around, they were founded 75 years ago … and that’s not very common in the restaurant business,” said Greg Vojnovic. “They are very popular, they are very successful and the family, the Doverspike and Trevelline family, were at a point where they needed someone to carry the legacy and so my brother Nick and I, that is what we are hoping to do.”

The name of the new controlling company is Hot Dog Shoppe Holdings LLC. Greg Vojnovic is president.

The transaction was finalized March 17. The properties in Trumbull County — 740 W. Market St., Warren, and 313 S. State St., Girard, the Jib Jab Hot Dog Shoppe — transferred on March 29. The property in Columbiana hasn’t transferred yet, according to online auditor’s office records.

SCF RC Funding IV LLC, a real estate investment trust based in New Jersey, which Hot Dog Shoppe Holdings LLC has a relationship with, is part of the transaction. The investment trust bought the building and land in Warren for $2.7 million and building and land in Girard for $2.8 million, according to Trumbull County Auditor’s office records.

Vojnovic said talks among the families began close to a year ago. It was in August when the structure really started to take shape.

Said Ray Trevelline, a founding family member, “My family and I founded the Hot Dog Shoppe in 1946 and have put everything into our restaurants. We wanted to make sure we chose the right person to carry on our traditions. We could not be happier that Greg will steward the company going forward.”

And going forward, Greg Vojnovic said, expect the restaurants to remain true to their heritage.

“I have three rules. The first rule is don’t mess it up … No. 2 is don’t change anything and No. 3 is if you have a great idea, go back to rules one and two,” he said.

“Our goal is that when our regulars and the people who have moved away and come back to visit family at special events or holidays, that it is just the same,” Greg Vojnovic said. “That is the big attraction, it’s been the vision to stay true through all of this time.”

Greg Vojnovic formerly worked as chief development officer for Inspire Brands, a multi-brand restaurant company with more than 8,300 Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, SONIC Drive-In, and Rusty Taco locations worldwide.

Brother Nick, co-owner of Hot Dog Shoppe Holdings LLC, is president of Little Greek Fresh Grill and is involved in franchise development for Green Market Cafe. The brothers also operate Georgia-based Vickery Creek LLC, a consulting company they formed to help identify opportunities like the one with the Hot Dog Shoppes.

Nick Vojnovic acquired Little Greek when it was three restaurants and grew it to close to 50, Greg Vojnovic said. Also, he helped grow Beef O’Brady’s from 30 to more than 200 locations, Nick Vojnovic said.

But that type of growth isn’t planned for the Hot Dog Shoppe outside of the Valley in the future.

“My goal, my brother’s goal, our goal, is to do these three restaurants great. Growth is something that may be in the future, but that is not our plan right now. Our plan is don’t mess it up, don’t change it. That means we’re not going to change names, change people because that is not our goal … it’s our goal to make sure we do a really good job with these three,” Greg Vojnovic said. “At some point in the future, sure, we’d love to expand, but that is not the business like today. The business like today is make sure that we are doing a good job, take care of our guests, take care of our team and be engaged in the community.”

rselak@tribtoday.com