(now closed) Village Inn was founded by James Mola and Merton Anderson, who opened the first Village Inn Pancake House in
Denver in 1958 at 8855 East Colfax Avenue. They incorporated as Village Inn Pancake House, Inc., in December 1959, and began
franchising in 1961, with Dow Sherwood opening the first franchised locations in
Tampa, Florida. In 1982, Village Inn became the publicly traded Vicorp Restaurants, Inc. Vicorp acquired the Poppin' Fresh Pies chain from
Pillsbury in May 1983, renaming it
Bakers Square. In 1984, Vicorp acquired 71 restaurants from
Ralston Purina's Continental Restaurant Systems division and 175 former
Sambo's restaurants in California, Florida, and Arizona. The California locations were converted to Bakers Square restaurants, while the Florida and Arizona locations were converted to Village Inns, but the conversions led to a decline in profits for the company and 15 of the converted Florida locations closed by 1989. (now closed, now Primos Tex Mex Bar & Grill) By the end of the 1980s, "Pancake House" was dropped from the name of the chain as Village Inn began offering lunch and dinner menus in addition to breakfast. During the early 1990s, all Village Inn restaurants underwent a large-scale renovation that featured new green
mansard roofs and neon signage. In May 2001, the investment firms of Goldner, Hawn, Johnson, and Morrison, Inc., and BancBoston Capital acquired Vicorp, and the company has been privately held ever since. On April 3, 2008, Vicorp filed for
bankruptcy under
Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code, and closed 56 company-owned restaurants as a result of the move, leaving a total of 343 Village Inn and Bakers Square locations. In 2009, American Blue Ribbon Holdings, a company owned by
Fidelity National Financial and Newport Global Advisors, acquired the assets of Vicorp, including Village Inn and Bakers Square. In 2010, Village Inn locations started updating to the new corporate logo, with several locations implementing it. On January 24, 2020, Village Inn abruptly closed 24 locations, with employees showing up for their shifts sometimes met by locked doors. Locations closed in Arizona include
Chandler (Alma School Road),
Gilbert,
Mesa (Dobson Road and McKellips Road), and
Phoenix (Bell Road at 3rd Street).
Aurora (Colfax Avenue),
Broomfield,
Littleton (Ken Caryl Avenue),
Castle Rock,
Monument, and
Wheat Ridge locations closed in Colorado, while
Lakeland,
Tampa (North Dale Mabry Highway), and
Winter Garden locations closed in Florida. Iowa lost locations in
Clinton,
Coralville, and
Des Moines. Utah locations closed were North
Salt Lake City,
Orem,
Roy,
Sandy, and
West Jordan. Locations in
Omaha, Nebraska (Dodge Street) and
Albuquerque, New Mexico (La Orilla) also closed. On January 27, 2020, American Blue Ribbon Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after closing a total of 33 locations across both brands. On September 14, 2020, Village Inn emerged from bankruptcy protection with 140 locations as a subsidiary of restructured parent company, VIBSQ Holdings LLC. In July 2021, VIBSQ Holdings was sold to BBQ Holdings, parent of
Famous Dave's chain of barbecue restaurants. ==See also==