Village Inn facts for kids
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Restaurant Bakery |
| Genre | casual dining |
| Predecessor | Village Inn Pancake House (1959-1989) |
| Founded | 1959 Denver, Colorado |
| Founder | James Mola Merton Anderson |
| Headquarters | Minnetonka, Minnesota, United States |
| Products | Breakfast foods, steaks, chicken, seafood, burgers, sandwiches, soups, salads, desserts, beverages |
| Revenue | $37,000,000 |
| Parent | BBQ Holdings |
Village Inn is a popular restaurant chain in the United States. It's known for its yummy breakfast meals. They also offer a variety of salads, sandwiches, burgers, and dinner options. Their pies have even won many awards!
As of April 2024, Village Inn has 116 restaurants. You can find them in many states, including Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.
In 2015, there were more Village Inn restaurants, about 212. But after some business changes, the company was sold in 2021 to BBQ Holdings, Inc., which is based in Minnetonka, Minnesota.
The Story of Village Inn
Village Inn was started by two friends, James Mola and Merton Anderson. They opened their first restaurant, called Village Inn Pancake House, in Denver in 1958.
They officially made it a company in 1959. Then, in 1961, they started letting other people open Village Inn restaurants as franchises. The first franchised locations opened in Tampa, Florida.
In 1982, Village Inn became part of a bigger company called Vicorp Restaurants, Inc. Vicorp then bought another pie chain called Poppin' Fresh Pies in 1983 and changed its name to Bakers Square.
Vicorp also bought many other restaurants in 1984. Some of these were turned into Bakers Square restaurants, and others became Village Inns. However, these changes caused some problems for the company, and some of the new Florida locations had to close by 1989.
By the end of the 1980s, Village Inn started offering lunch and dinner meals, not just breakfast. So, they dropped "Pancake House" from their name. In the early 1990s, all Village Inn restaurants got a new look with green roofs and bright neon signs.
In 2008, Vicorp, the company that owned Village Inn, had some financial difficulties. They had to close 56 restaurants.
Later, in 2009, a company called American Blue Ribbon Holdings bought Village Inn and Bakers Square. In 2010, Village Inn restaurants started getting a new company logo.
In January 2020, Village Inn closed 24 locations very suddenly. Employees arrived at work to find the doors locked. This happened in several states, including Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Utah, Nebraska, and New Mexico.
A few days later, American Blue Ribbon Holdings also faced financial challenges and closed more restaurants.
However, Village Inn worked through its difficulties. By September 2020, it came out of these challenges with 140 locations.
In July 2021, Village Inn became part of BBQ Holdings, which also owns the Famous Dave's barbecue restaurants.
See also
- List of pancake houses
