Bakers Square facts for kids
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Restaurants |
| Founded | December 1969 (as Mrs. C's, later Poppin' Fresh Pies) - 1983 (as Bakers Square) |
| Headquarters | , |
| Parent | BBQ Holdings, Inc. |
Bakers Square Restaurant & Bakery, often called just Bakers Square, is a popular restaurant chain in the United States. It is especially famous for its delicious pies. Besides pies, Bakers Square also serves full menus for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The company is currently owned by BBQ Holdings. As of June 2025, Bakers Square has 7 restaurants open in states like Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, and Ohio.
Contents
The Story of Bakers Square
How Bakers Square Began
Bakers Square started a long time ago, in December 1969. It was first a single restaurant called Mrs. C's in Des Moines, Iowa. This little restaurant quickly became very popular because of its amazing pies.
A big food company called Pillsbury bought Mrs. C's around that time. Pillsbury then changed the restaurant's name to Poppin' Fresh Pies. They also opened more locations, so more people could enjoy the pies.
Becoming Bakers Square
In 1983, another company named VICORP bought Poppin' Fresh Pies from Pillsbury. VICORP already owned the Village Inn restaurant chain. After buying Poppin' Fresh Pies, VICORP decided to change its name one more time to Bakers Square.
Where You Can Find Bakers Square
Locations Across the Midwest
Most Bakers Square restaurants are located in the Upper Midwest region of the United States. This includes states like Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, and Ohio. Bakers Square and Village Inn, which are both owned by the same parent company, usually operate in different areas.
The very first Mrs. C's restaurant in Des Moines stayed open as a Bakers Square for many years. However, it closed its doors on April 2, 2008. This happened when VICORP, the company that owned Bakers Square at the time, faced financial difficulties.
Changes in Ownership
In 2009, a new company called American Blue Ribbon Holdings bought Bakers Square and Village Inn. This company is owned by Fidelity National Financial and Newport Global Advisors.
Past Presence in California
Bakers Square once had many restaurants in California, with over 90 locations. It competed with other popular chains there, like Marie Callender's and Coco's Bakery. Bakers Square came to California in 1984 when its parent company bought the Sambo's chain. Many Sambo's locations were then turned into Bakers Square restaurants.
Bakers Square was very successful in California through the early 2000s. However, as the economy changed, the restaurant business became tougher. By 2005, profits started to go down. Bakers Square began closing many of its California locations as their leases ended.
By February 2009, more than 80 Bakers Square restaurants in California had closed. Many of these buildings are now empty. Some locations in the Los Angeles area were changed into other restaurants, like Du-par's Restaurant & Bakery. The last Bakers Square in Southern California, located in San Diego, also closed later.
Pie Production Facilities
Even though many restaurants closed, Bakers Square still makes a lot of pies! The company used to have a pie factory in California, but it closed. Now, two special factories are still operating. These are located in Oak Forest, Illinois, and Chaska, Minnesota. These factories, now called "Legendary Baking," produce an amazing 18 million pies every year. These pies are made for Bakers Square, Village Inn, and other food service companies.
Recent Closures and New Owners
In March 2009, four Bakers Square locations in the San Francisco Bay Area were bought by Shari's Restaurants. They continued to operate as Bakers Square for about eight months. Bakers Square also stopped operating in Michigan, where it once had many restaurants.
On January 24, 2020, Bakers Square permanently closed nine more locations. These included restaurants in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Minnesota. A few days later, on January 27, 2020, American Blue Ribbon Holdings, the company that owned Bakers Square and Village Inn, faced financial difficulties and closed 33 locations across both brands.
However, Bakers Square did not disappear! On September 14, 2020, Bakers Square came out of its financial troubles with 14 locations. It became a part of a new company called VIBSQ Holdings LLC.
On December 9, 2020, the last Bakers Square restaurant in Wisconsin closed. Then, in July 2021, VIBSQ Holdings was sold to BBQ Holdings. BBQ Holdings is also the parent company of Famous Dave's BBQ.
