“The strategic fit and long-term potential of Mimi’s Cafe relative to our other businesses prompted us to initiate a process to evaluate our strategic alternatives for that segment, including but not limited to a potential sale,” Chairman and Chief Executive Steve Davis said in a statement.
Same-store sales at Mimi’s, or sales at stores open a year or more, dropped 7.4 percent in fiscal 2011, fell another 7.4 percent in the fiscal year that ended in April, and dropped 4.9 percent through the first half of fiscal 2013.
Mimi’s Cafe recorded an adjusted operating loss of $5.3 million in fiscal second quarter that ended Oct. 26, compared with an adjusted operating loss of $3.3 million during the same period last year. In comparison, the Bob Evans Restaurants unit reported an adjusted operating profit of $20.6 million in the second quarter, down from $23.4 million during fiscal second quarter 2011.
For the quarter, Bob Evans reported net income of $10.3 million, or 36 cents per share, compared with $12.7 million, or 42 cents per share during the same period last year. Sales for the quarter totaled $410 million, up from $407 million during the year-ago period.
Meanwhile, customers’ favorable reaction to the remodeling of Bob Evans restaurants has prompted the company to accelerate the program, Davis said.
“We now expect to have the entire (Bob Evans) chain remodeled by the end of fiscal 2014, one year ahead of our original plan,” Davis said.
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