Bakers Square sold to new owner

isilzha · 03-31-2009, 12:12 AM

Bakers Square sold to new owner

By James P. Miller | Tribune staff reporter

2:12 PM CDT, March 30, 2009

The bankrupt owner of pie purveyor Bakers Square sold the restaurant chain to private interests, according to Vicorp Restaurants Inc.

Denver-based Vicorp Restaurants, which owns and franchises restaurants under the Bakers Square and Village Inn brands, filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the federal Bankruptcy Code eleven months ago.

Like other casual-dining restaurant operators which have gone bankrupt during the past year, including the owners of rival chains Black Angus Steakhouse and Bennigan's, Vicorp's restaurants saw profits come under pressure from a combination of higher food prices and a recession-driven dropoff in customers.

As part of its bankruptcy reorganization, plan, closely held Vicorp sold the assets of other Village Inn and Baker's Square restaurant brands -- as well as the affiliated Vicom pie-making operation -- to an investment group jointly owned by title-insurance provider Fidelity National Financial Inc. and the Newport Global Advisors unit of buyout firm Providence Equity Partners.

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I hope they don't get rid of free pie Wednesday.

Food Network Fan · 03-31-2009, 12:14 AM

I have never heard of this one.

isilzha · 03-31-2009, 12:16 AM

Welcome to Bakers Square

Food Network Fan · 03-31-2009, 12:23 AM

Must not be anywhere near here it gives me nothing on a zip search. But that's not surprising.

isilzha · 03-31-2009, 12:25 AM

You guys never have anything cool.

The last few months they've had a free pie deal, if you eat in you get a free slice of pie with purchase. Whats amazing to me is a purchase includes just a cup of coffee. My friends and I have been going there a lot after work on Wednesdays, but one of my friends just gets coffee and she still gets free pie, which means she does pretty well for $2.

Food Network Fan · 03-31-2009, 12:33 AM

Yeah we are really short on a lot of the shopping and dining other states seem to have plenty of.

Pluff Mudder · 03-31-2009, 07:29 AM

None in this neck of the woods. Good looking pies on their web-site!

BerryBaby · 03-31-2009, 12:11 PM

They are big in the midwest. We don't have them out here either. Biggest pie place is Marie Callendar's, but there isn't one close by. Would take a good 45 minutes to get there. So, if I want pie, I make one, which is a couple times a year.

bakerman · 03-31-2009, 10:14 PM

This company also makes pies for grocery stores to sell, they come in frozen and baked in store, or for the non-fruit pies just thawed. They are under the J Horner name and boy were they ever good, a grocer that I previously worked for had these. Their peach, mixed berry and apple dumpling pies were so darned good. The crusts tasted like homemade.

They had a French Silk pie that was crazy good as well.

BerryBaby · 04-01-2009, 12:07 AM

My sister loves the French Silk, which they can get it fresh from Baker's Square.