Baker's Square

Bakers Square Restaurant & Pies (also known as Bakers Square) is a casual dining restaurant chain in the United States. While it is known for its pies, Bakers Square offers full breakfast, lunch and dinner menus.

Bakers Square began in December 1969 with a restaurant called "Mrs. C's" in Des Moines, Iowa, that became popular for its pies.[1] Pillsbury purchased Mrs. C's around that time, renamed it "Poppin' Fresh Pies", and opened additional locations. VICORP, owners of the Village Inn restaurant chain, purchased Poppin' Fresh Pies from Pillsbury in 1983 and renamed the chain Bakers Square.[2]

A typical Bakers Square restaurant

Bakers Square restaurants are primarily found in the Great Lakes area and in California. Except for the Des Moines area, Bakers Square and Village Inn operate in separate markets without overlap. The original Mrs. C's restaurant, on Merle Hay Road in Des Moines, remained in business as a Bakers Square until it closed on April 2, 2008, as parent company VICORP filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[1]

On April 3, 2008, VICORP filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code. VICORP closed 56 company-owned restaurants as a result of the move, leaving a total of 343 Village Inn and Bakers Square locations.[3] Village Inn restaurants are found in the Midwest states such as Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, and Nebraska, the Western United States, Texas, Virginia, and Florida.[4]

In California, Bakers Square competes directly with Marie Callender's, Coco's Bakery/Carrows restaurants.

The children's menu of Bakers Square features the "Bakers Bunch", including the characters Crusto, Pie Spy, Meringué, Square Baker, L'il Slice, and Pie Pup.[5] The characters were developed by a professional character development company.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b Boeckman, Joanne (2008-04-03). "Original shop in Bakers Square chain is closed, along with second in Des Moines", The Des Moines Register. 
  2. ^ FundingUniverse.com. "VICORP Restaurants, Inc., Company History". Retrieved on 2007-02-04.
  3. ^ Milstead, David (2008-04-03). "Bankrupt Village Inn shutting down local restaurants", Rocky Mountain News. 
  4. ^ VICORP Restaurants. "Find a Village Inn Location". Retrieved on 2008-04-03.
  5. ^ VICORP, Inc.. "Bakers Square Kid's Menu". Retrieved on 2008-04-03.
  6. ^ C3 Design. "Character Design: Bakers Square Bunch". Retrieved on 2008-04-03.

External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakers_Square"

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