Frisch’s Restaurants Inc. is exploring strategic alternatives for its 29 franchised Golden Corral buffet restaurants, the company said Wednesday.
The Cincinnati-based franchise operator has retained investment bank Brookwood Associates LLC to analyze the chain’s business performance.
“We are focused on optimizing the value of our investment in our Golden Corral segment, and we look forward to working closely with Brookwood Associates to achieve this goal,” Craig Maier, president and chief executive of Frisch’s, said. “We do not have any specific strategic or financial transaction in mind, nor do we have any fixed endpoint for this project’s conclusion.”
In August, the company closed six underperforming Golden Corral restaurants in Ohio.
Frisch’s recorded a 0.6-percent increase in same-store sales at its Golden Corral system in fiscal 2011, which ended May 31, compared with 2010 results. However, same-store sales lost momentum in the second half of the fiscal year, dropping from a 1.4-percent increase in the second quarter to a 0.9-percent decline in the third quarter and a 3.6 percent-decline in the fourth quarter.
The company said it does not plan to release any more statements on the strategic review of Golden Corral until material developments arise.
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Golden Corral restaurants are located primarily in the greater metro areas of Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Cleveland; Columbus, Dayton and Toledo, Ohio; and Kentucky.
Frisch’s also operates or franchise 120 Big Boy restaurants, which are located in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.
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