Famous Dave's owner buys Bakers Square and Village Inn restaurants

BBQ Holdings, parent company of Famous Dave's, is continuing its expansion outside of barbecue with the acquisition of family restaurant chains Village Inn and Bakers Square.

The Minnetonka-based BBQ Holdings, which bought bankrupt Granite City Food & Brewery and Chicago-based Real Urban Barbecue in March 2020 as the pandemic started to take hold of the country, paid $13.5 million for Village Inn and Bakers Square, according to an SEC filing.

The sale, which was announced Friday by BBQ Holdings Inc. and VIBSQ, the parent company of Village Inn and Bakers Square, is expected to close by the end of July.

Jeff Crivello, BBQ Holdings' chief executive, said in a Monday interview that the acquisition opens the doors for franchisees to try their hands at different restaurant concepts and also for the company to experiment with more dual-concept restaurants in which different brands share the same roof.

"Barbecue is our founding and we understand that," he said. "There's a lot more that we can do in the barbecue space, but we also want to expand it and have expanded opportunities for our franchise partners with all of the concepts."

For example, Famous Dave's recently took up space at the Cowboy Jack's restaurant in Woodbury for a dual-concept eatery. Last year, BBQ Holdings also started to add ghost kitchens in which a shared kitchen space is used at another restaurant for delivery or takeout without the name being on the building. Several Famous Dave's ghost kitchens have opened in Granite City restaurants, and BBQ Holdings also entered into an agreement with Bluestone Hospitality Group to open ghost kitchens.

According to Nation's Restaurant News, VIBSQ was one of two companies spun off after its parent company American Blue Ribbon Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January of last year.

During the restructuring, the company was able to shed some leases and underperforming restaurants and strengthen the portfolio, Crivello said. With help from BBQ Holdings' marketing team, Crivello said Village Inn and Bakers Square marketing can be freshened.

Village Inn, which has grown from its breakfast roots to include lunches and dinners, currently has 21 company-owned and 114 franchisee-owned restaurants across the country. Bakers Square, which began in Des Moines, Iowa, and is known for its pies, has 13 restaurants with the most in Illinois. Bakers Square has three Minnesota locations.

Crivello said BBQ Holdings hopes to create a new prototype for collaborations with Village Inn franchisees, and the company is looking into expanding Bakers Square business so that possibly its pies could be sold through outside retail. The company plans to open Bakers Square kiosks for pies in its Famous Dave's and Granite City locations.

"Pie is never going out of style," he said.

In the spring, BBQ Holdings announced same-store sales for BBQ Holdings declined more than 15% in 2020. However, sales decreases lessened in January and February of this year with March seeing sales increases of nearly 44% year over year for Famous Dave's and more than 60% for Granite City.