Village Inn is a casual-dining

restaurant chain A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate the retail and dining markets and many service categories, in many pa ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Its restaurants are known for their breakfast menu items. Also, they feature a variety of salads, sandwiches, burgers, melts, and dinner items. Their pies have won numerous awards from the

American Pie Council The American Pie Council (APC) is an organization committed to "preserving America's pie heritage and promoting America's love affair with pies." As America's only purely pie-focused national organization, the APC combines aspects of a Club (organi ...

. As of January 2023, the company operates 121 locations in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

, Oklahoma,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, and

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...

. In September 2015, Village Inn operated 212 restaurants. This was reduced in bankruptcy proceedings, leading to sale of the chain in July 2021 to Village Inn's new parent company, BBQ Holdings, Inc., based in

Minnetonka, Minnesota Minnetonka ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. A western suburb of the Twin Cities, Minnetonka is located about west of downtown Minneapolis. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 53,781. Minnetonka is th ...

History

Village Inn was founded by James Mola and Merton Anderson, who opened the first Village Inn Pancake House in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

in 1958 at 8855 East Colfax Avenue. They incorporated as Village Inn Pancake House, Inc., in December 1959, and began franchising in 1961, with Dow Sherwood opening the first franchised locations in Tampa. In 1982, Village Inn became the publicly traded Vicorp Restaurants, Inc. Vicorp acquired the Poppin' Fresh Pies chain from Pillsbury in May 1983, renaming it

Bakers Square Bakers Square Restaurant & Bakery (also known as Bakers Square) is a casual dining restaurant chain in the United States. Known for its pies, Bakers Square also offers full breakfast, lunch and dinner menus. The chain is owned by American Blue ...

. In 1984, VICORP acquired 71 restaurants from

Ralston Purina Ralston Purina Company was a St. Louis, Missouri,–based American conglomerate with substantial holdings in animal feed, food, pet food, consumer products, and entertainment. On December 12, 2001, it merged with Swiss food-giant Nestlé's Fr ...

's Continental Restaurant Systems division and 175 former

Sambo's Sambo's was an American restaurant chain, started in 1957 by Sam Battistone Sr. and Newell Bohnett in Santa Barbara, California. Though the name was taken from portions of the names of its founders, the chain soon found itself associated with '' ...

restaurants in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, Florida, and Arizona. The California locations were converted to Bakers Square restaurants, while the Florida and Arizona locations were converted to Village Inns, but the conversions led to a decline in profits for the company and 15 of the converted Florida locations closed by 1989.

By the end of the 1980s, "Pancake House" was dropped from the name of the chain as Village Inn began offering lunch and dinner menus in addition to breakfast. During the early 1990s, all Village Inn restaurants underwent a large-scale renovation that featured new green mansard roofs and neon signage. In May 2001, the investment firms of Goldner, Hawn, Johnson, and Morrison, Inc., and BancBoston Capital acquired VICORP, and the company has been privately held ever since. In late 1993, Vicorp acquired the rights to a small Florida chain called Angel's Diner from founder Eric A. Holm. Unfortunately, he had also sold the rights to

Golden Corral Golden Corral is an American restaurant chain which offers an all-you-can-eat buffet and grill. It is a privately held company headquartered in the U.S. city of Raleigh, North Carolina, with locations in 43 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. History ...

and Vicorp was forced to pay

$1 million to secure the exclusive rights. The intent was to convert underperforming Village Inn and

units to this new concept. After building seven units, Vicorp realized that the concept was not economically viable and wrote off $11 million on the venture. During this time frame, Eric Holm filed for personal bankruptcy. On April 3, 2008, Vicorp filed for bankruptcy under

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...

of the federal bankruptcy code, and closed 56 company-owned restaurants as a result of the move, leaving a total of 343 Village Inn and Bakers Square locations. In 2009, American Blue Ribbon Holdings, a company owned by

Fidelity National Financial Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE: FNF), a Fortune 500 company, is a provider of title insurance and settlement services to the real estate and mortgage industries. FNF generated approximately $8.469 billion in annual revenue in 2019 fro ...

and Newport Global Advisors, acquired the assets of Vicorp, including Village Inn and Bakers Square. In 2010, Village Inn locations started updating to the new corporate logo, with several locations implementing it. On January 24, 2020, Village Inn closed 24 locations suddenly, with employees showing up for their shifts met by locked doors. Locations closed in Arizona include Chandler (Alma School Rd), Gilbert, Mesa (Dobson Rd and McKellips Rd), and Phoenix (Bell Rd at 3rd). Aurora (Colfax Ave), Broomfield, Littleton (Ken Caryl Ave), Castle Rock, Monument, and Wheat Ridge locations closed in Colorado, while Lakeland, Tampa (N Dale Mabry Hwy), and Winter Garden locations closed in Florida. Iowa lost locations in Clinton, Coralville, and Des Moines. Locations closed in North Salt Lake City, Orem, Roy, Sandy, and West Jordan, Utah, along with Omaha, Nebraska (Dodge St) and Albuquerque, New Mexico (La Orilla). On January 27, 2020, American Blue Ribbon Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after closing a total of 33 locations across both brands. On September 14, 2020, Village Inn emerged from bankruptcy protection with 140 locations as a subsidiary of restructured parent company, VIBSQ Holdings LLC. In July 2021, VIBSQ Holdings was sold to BBQ Holdings, parent of

Famous Dave's Famous Dave's of America is a chain of barbecue restaurants primarily located in the Midwestern United States, serving pork ribs, chicken, beef brisket, and several flavors of barbecue sauce. Dave Anderson, an Ojibwe-Choctaw who served as the ...

chain of barbecue restaurants.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Village Inn website
Fidelity National Financial Restaurants in Denver Economy of the Midwestern United States Economy of the Western United States Regional restaurant chains in the United States Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2008 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020 Restaurants established in 1958 Restaurant franchises Pancake houses 1958 establishments in Colorado

History

See also

References

External links