DENVER The bankrupt parent of the Village Inn and Bakers Square family restaurant brands has hired Sun Capital Partners veteran Hazem Ouf to assume the duties of chief executive from Ken Keymer, who said he would retire at week’s end.
Ouf, who also will serve as president of Vicorp Restaurants Inc., has led several foodservice companies out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, including Constellation Concepts and the buffet operator Souper Salad. He has spent more than 30 years in the restaurant industry, most recently as president and CEO of SSI Inc., the Sun Capital affiliate that owns and operates about 160 Souper Salad and Grandy’s units. Sun Capital, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based private firm with more than $10 billion in equity capital, owns all or part of Boston Market, Fazoli’s, Smokey Bones, Palamino’s, Timothy’s, Chevys and El Torito, among other restaurant brands.
Ouf has also worked at Lyons Restaurants, Stuart Anderson's Black Angus, and Spectrum Foods Inc.
At Vicorp, he will oversee 250 company-run family restaurants under the concern’s two brands, as well as franchise contracts for 93 stores.
Keymer had been CEO of Vicorp since April 2007, when he joined the company after heading the Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits chain for AFC Enterprises Inc. He also has served in high-level posts at Noodles & Company and Taco Bell.
"[Ouf] has a proven track record of turning companies around, and with his experience, positive attitude and enthusiasm for the restaurant industry, I am confident that Hazem will help bring Vicorp out of bankruptcy and move the company ahead to a brighter future,” Keymer said in a statement.