WARREN Mich. Big Boy International is searching for a new chief executive to replace Tony Michaels, who has left the family chain after 27 years, said chairman Robert Liggett Jr. Jim Jensen, a member of Big Boy's board of directors, is serving as interim CEO.
Big Boy is adopting a more aggressive growth strategy and planning other changes to better fit today’s marketplace, according to a company statement. The chain, in business for more than 70 years, said it intends to expand in both new and existing markets, such as California, where the iconic Bob’s Big Boy was based for many years. Officials said earlier this year that the chain is testing a drive-thru unit in the state.
Big Boy’s unit growth declined by 3 percent in its last fiscal year, according to the Nation’s Restaurant News' Second 100 report, which tallied a total of 269 U.S. units for the chain. In an interview with NRN in August, Michaels had indicated that business was good, in spite of the economic downturn. “People gravitate to comfortable things during tough times,” he said. Big Boy’s central commissary has helped to hold down rising commodity costs, he said, adding that the chain had recently raised menu prices only “slightly.” The average check has been running around $8, Michaels said.
Michaels, 50, was promoted from marketing chief to CEO in 1999, shortly before Liggett, a Detroit radio station and newspaper owner, bought the company after previous parent Elias Brothers filed for bankruptcy.