Perkins Restaurant and Bakery

Perkins gaurav & Bakery
Private
Industry Restaurant and Bakery
Founded 1958
Headquarters Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Key people
 Jeff Warne, CEO
Products Food
Revenue $352.3 million as of FY 2005
Owner Wayzata Investment Partners
Number of employees
 25,000
Parent Perkins & Marie Callender's
Website perkinsrestaurants.com

Perkins Restaurant and Bakery is a North American casual dining restaurant chain which serves breakfast throughout the day. Perkins also has a bakery that sells pastries.

History

The Perkins chain was established in 1958, when Matt and Ivan Perkins opened Perkins Pancake House in Cincinnati, Ohio. In the 1960s, the chain expanded as a franchise. One franchisee in Minnesota, Wyman Nelson, introduced an expanded menu and an aggressive advertising campaign in 1967.

From 1969 to 1978 Nelson consolidated Perkins and another chain, Smitty's, into Perkins 'Cake & Steak'. From headquarters in Edina, Minnesota, Nelson assumed nationwide development control of the company, and focused on opening over 220 restaurants. In 1979, Matt and Ivan retired, selling their remaining interest in the company, including trademark and distribution rights. In August 1979, Perkins became a wholly owned subsidiary of Memphis-based Holiday Inns, Inc; corporate headquarters were established in Tennessee. Matt died of heart disease in 1991 at age 79.[1] Ivan died on February 11, 1998, and his wife Cecilia died February 25, 2013, at age 97.

In 1985 restaurant entrepreneur Donald N. Smith, who then served on the Board of Directors of Holiday Inns, purchased an ownership interest in Perkins, becoming Chairman of the Board and the company's CEO. Smith remodeled buildings, and introduced in-store bakeries, distinctive brand imagery, and standardized signage. The company became focused on table-service family dining.

The company was renamed Perkins Family Restaurants in 1987, and was organized into a master limited partnership with interests publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The corporation expanded into Canada, opening a restaurant in Thunder Bay, Ontario. In 1990, the company began its philanthropic relationship with Give Kids the World, contributing money and meals to the Florida-based charity for terminally ill children globally.

In 1992 the company introduced a new building design, with the prototype restaurant opening in Springfield, Illinois, with an arched exterior façade with neon lights and an interior design with a central kitchen and baking with separate dining wings.

In the 2000s Perkins underwent business changes. In 2000 it merged with a wholly owned subsidiary of The Restaurant Company. In 2005 the parent company, TRC, was acquired by Castle Harlan, a New York-based private equity investment firm, for approximately US$245 million. In May 2006 TRC also acquired Marie Callender's,[2] a chain of casual dining restaurants also known for their freshly baked pies.

By 2011 the company, now PMCI, was in financial trouble. In June, many restaurants were closed with no notice given to customers or staff. Closures were in Colorado, Kansas, Illinois, Tennessee, Florida, Michigan, and Minnesota.[3][4][5][6][7][8] Later that month, Perkins & Marie Callender's Inc. filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. PMCI closed about 65 restaurants and laid off 2,500 workers. In the bankruptcy proceedings PMCI listed assets of $290 million and liabilities of $441 million. PMCI emerged from bankruptcy at the end of November 2011, but continued to experience difficulties: in May 2012 it was announced that all western New York Perkins restaurants would close.[9]

See also

References

External links

Coordinates: 35°7′41.2″N 89°56′43.8″W / 35.128111°N 89.945500°W