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Bob Evans Restaurants
Company typeSubsidiary
Nasdaq: BOBE
IndustryFood
GenreFamily style
Founded1948; 76 years ago (1948)
FounderBob Evans
FateCompany split in 2017; restaurant division sold to Golden Gate Capital, and BE Farms sold to Post Holdings
SuccessorGolden Gate Capital (restaurant)
Post Holdings (farms)
Headquarters8111 Smith's Mill Road New Albany, Ohio, U.S.
ProductsBreakfast foods, steaks, chicken, seafood, burgers, sandwiches, soups, salads, desserts, beverages[1]
RevenueUS$384.94 Million (2017) [2]
Owner
Number of employees
30,625[3]
Websitebobevans.com

Bob Evans Restaurants is an American chain of restaurants owned by Golden Gate Capital based in New Albany, Ohio. After its founding in 1948 by Bob Evans (1918–2007), the restaurant chain evolved into a company with the corporate brand name "Bob Evans Farms, Inc." (BEF), and eventually established a separate food division to handle the sale of its products in other markets.

The company made several major acquisitions, including Owens Country Sausage in 1987, and was split in January 2017 with the sale of its restaurant division to an affiliate of Golden Gate Capital. BEF Foods remained independently owned until September 2017 when it was sold to Post Holdings.

As of April 2024, the company operates 436 locations in Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.[4] The locations are all corporate owned, and none of them are franchised.

The restaurants feature a country-living theme, and most locations sell baked goods, snacks, and small gift items. The company formerly offered pork products and refrigerated side dishes in retail grocery and food service markets. The distribution of these products, sold under the Bob Evans and Owens Country Sausage brand names, was independent of the restaurant division.

History

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Beginning and consolidation

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Bob Evans Restaurants was founded in 1948 by Bob Evans, when he began processing and packaging sausage for his small diner located in Gallipolis, Ohio.[5] Early operations were based at his farm in Rio Grande.[5] As the reputation of his sausage grew, so did the number of guests who visited his farm to buy it in bulk.[5] Friends and family partnered together to establish Bob Evans Farms, Inc., in 1953.[5] The increased traffic led him to build the first company restaurant at the farm in 1962 that was named "The Sausage Shop".[5]

The construction of additional Bob Evans restaurants began some years later. By the mid-1970s there were 20 locations—all of them still in Ohio—including sites in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton, and smaller markets.[6] By 1980 there were 59 restaurants in seven states.[7] and by 1992 Bob Evans owned and operated 261 restaurants in 16 states: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, South Carolina, Missouri, Maryland, New York, Virginia and Texas, with food products retailed in 26 states and the District of Columbia.[8]

After encountering a capacity problem fulfilling large orders, Bob Evans contracted with his cousin Tim Evans of the Evans Packing Company to package Bob Evans Sausage products.[citation needed] Another relative, Dan Evans, served as CEO until his retirement in 2000.[9]

The company acquired Texas-based Owens Country Sausage in 1987. Owing to trademark issues, the company branded its otherwise identical restaurants in Texas as Owens Restaurants. By January 2006, all Owens restaurants had been closed.[10]

The company operated a Mexican-themed restaurant called Cantina del Rio in the mid-1990s, a move that founder Bob Evans called "a disaster" in 2003.[11]

The Evans family controlled daily operations of the company until 2000, when Dan Evans retired as CEO. After this, Stewart K. Owens (a former officer of the Owens Country Sausage company and later president of BOBE) assumed control of Bob Evans Farms Inc. as CEO. In 2001, he became chairman of the board. Company profits faltered under Owens' tenure. In August 2005, after corporate profits had dropped in eight of the previous nine quarters, Owens announced his resignation. After operating for several months under interim CEO Larry Corbin, the company hired Steven Davis, former president of Long John Silver's, as CEO in May 2006.[citation needed]

The Bob Evans Farm in Rio Grande, Ohio, with a Bob Evans restaurant (left), pictured in 2007
Bob Evans outlet in Lynchburg, Virginia, 2011 (closed in October 2017)

In July 2004, Bob Evans Farms purchased the California-based Mimi's Cafe restaurant chain (operating under SWH Corporation) for $182 million.[12][13] Mimi's Cafe had 144 locations throughout the U.S. at the time. They featured casual dining and American food with a French emphasis and decorative elements. Bob Evans Farms sold Mimi's Cafe to the U.S. branch of Groupe Le Duff in 2013.[citation needed]

In an effort to update the company's image, Bob Evans debuted a new prototype design at their restaurant location in Xenia, Ohio, on August 17, 2009.[14] The new look included flat-screen televisions, free Wi-Fi, curbside carryout services, and redesigned uniforms for staff.[14][15] Its architecture and interior design drew inspiration from the Bob Evans family farm in southern Ohio in a way that the company called a "contemporary and relevant twist".[14][15]

CEO Steven Davis resigned in December 2014.[16]

In December 2015, the chain announced its intention to sell 145 properties to Mesirow Financial Holdings Inc. for $165–175 million.[17]

Separation from and dissolution of Bob Evans Farms

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On January 24, 2017, Bob Evans Farms announced the sale of its restaurants business unit to the private equity company Golden Gate Capital (owners of Red Lobster and California Pizza Kitchen) for US$565 million plus the assumption of up to US$50 million in liabilities. In addition to the restaurants, Golden Gate Capital also took ownership of the Bob Evans Farm in Bidwell, Ohio, near Rio Grande. Once the sale was finalized, Bob Evans Farms CEO Saed Mohseni moved to Golden Gate Capital to serve as president of the Bob Evans restaurant division. BEF Foods President Mike Townsley became president and CEO of the new Bob Evans Farms, which remains a public company focusing on grocery products such as breakfast sausage and refrigerated side dishes. Net proceeds from the sale to Bob Evans Farms was expected to be between $475 million and $485 million.[18][19][20]

On the same day, Bob Evans Farms entered into an agreement to acquire the Pineland Farms Potato Co. of Mars Hill, Maine, for US$115 million. Pineland Farms is a value-added potato processor, including a 900-acre (360 ha) potato farm, serving the retail and food service markets. They also operate a cheese-processing business.[18][19] Both the sale of the restaurant division to Golden Gate Capital and the purchase of Pineland Farms Potato Company closed on March 1, 2017.[21]

On September 19, 2017, Bob Evans Farms announced that it would be acquired by Post Holdings.[22] Post Holdings also announced that upon completion of the acquisition, they would combine their existing Michael Foods refrigerated retail business with that of Bob Evans Farms. This unit would initially operate under the Bob Evans Farms name (before eventually being changed to Post Refrigerated Retail) and would be led by the then-current Bob Evans Farms president and CEO, Mike Townsley. Bob Evans Farms foodservice business would be moved to Michael Foods, and led by division president Jim Dwyer.[23] The sale of Bob Evans Farms to Post Holdings closed on January 12, 2018, when Bob Evans Farms stock was delisted from the NASDAQ Global Select Market, and the company ceased to exist as an independent organization.[24][25]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Bob Evans | Dine in, Takeout and Delivery!".
  2. ^ "Bob Evans Farms Inc (BOBE) Annual Revenue Annual Growth Rates, Year by Year, Research Fundamentals - CSIMarket".
  3. ^ Bob Evans Farms Dun & Bradstreet.
  4. ^ "Our Company – Who We Are". Bob Evans Farms. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Our Company – History and Legacy". Bob Evans Farms. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  6. ^ "Business News." Xenia (Ohio) Daily Gazette, 22 November 1975, 10.
  7. ^ "Bob Evans Plans Merger." Greenville (Ohio) Daily Advocate, 12 September 1980, 3,
  8. ^ "Bob Evans Opening Monday in Hamburg." The Sun (Hamburg, NY), 20 February, 1992, 15.
  9. ^ Lafferty, Mike (June 21, 2007). "Bob Evans Dies at 89". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
  10. ^ Bob Evans Farms Announces Closing of Eight Remaining Owens Restaurants, press release
  11. ^ "Bob Evans Obituary". Legacy.com. Associated Press. June 21, 2007. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
  12. ^ FundingUniverse – Company Histories – SWH Corporation. Retrieved 2 November 2008.
  13. ^ "Mimi's changes recipe a little under new owner; It adds some upscale entrees while preserving comfort-food favorites". Archived from the original on September 4, 2013. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
  14. ^ a b c "Bob Evans Builds a Whole New Home of Homestyle in Xenia" (PDF) (Press release). Bob Evans Farms. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 7, 2010.
  15. ^ a b "Bob Evans restaurant redesign set for debut". Columbus Business First. Archived from the original on August 16, 2009. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  16. ^ Lublin, Joann (December 15, 2014). "Bob Evans's CEO Resigns as Board Revamps Firm". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
  17. ^ Eaton, Dan (December 21, 2015). "Bob Evans selling off 145 restaurants' real estate". American City Business Journals.
  18. ^ a b Author unknown (January 24, 2017). Press Release: Sale of Bob Evans Restaurants and the Acquisition of Pineland Farms Potato Company Marks the Beginning of a New Era at Bob Evans Farms, Inc. The Wall Street Journal, January 24, 2017. "The Wall Street Journal news department was not involved in the creation of this content." Retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/articles/PR-CO-20170124-911070.
  19. ^ a b Woodyard, Chris (January 24, 2017). Bob Evans shares rocket on sale of restaurants division. USA Today, January 24, 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  20. ^ Bob Evans CEO: Farm fest still on. No restaurants closing.
  21. ^ Barghouty, Ghezal (May 1, 2017). "Sale of Bob Evans restaurants to Golden Gate Capital completes". WSYX.
  22. ^ Yu, Roger. "Bob Evans Farms sold to Post Holdings for $1.5 billion". USA Today.
  23. ^ Moultrie, Marilyn (September 19, 2017). "Post Holdings to Acquire Bob Evans Farms for $77.00 per Share". Post Holdings.
  24. ^ Moultrie, Marilyn (December 5, 2017). "Post Holdings and Bob Evans Farms Announce Expiration of HSR Waiting Period in Connection with Proposed Acquisition of Bob Evans Farms". Post Holdings.
  25. ^ Moultrie, Marilyn (January 11, 2018). "Post Holdings to Explore Strategic Alternatives for Private Brands Businesses; Acquisition of Bob Evans Farms Expected to Close on January 12; Announces New Leadership Appointments". Post Holdings.
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