Tustin-based Mimi’s Cafe is moving on expansion plans with its parent clearing the way.
The chain,known for whimsical restaurants with a French country cottage theme,plans to open 14 more by April.
Last year, Mimi’s opened about a dozen restaurants.
Russ Bendel, Mimi’s chief executive, said getting money to expand is “a whole lot easier” since the company was bought in 2004 by Ohio’s Bob Evans Farms Inc.
“Bob Evans bought us because they liked the brand,” Bendel said. “We really will be their restaurant growth vehicle going forward.”
Two years ago, Mimi’s, then owned by family run SWH Corp., was set to go public, even filing plans with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Then Bob Evans made a great offer, Bendel said. The company bought Mimi’s for about $100 million.
Since, Mimi’s has been steadily opening restaurants, mostly in southeast states.
In all, Mimi’s has 104 restaurants in 17 states, including in California, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado. That’s up from 77 in 2003.
The company plans to target the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee and Arkansas, Bendel said.
“The migration of the population seems to be away from industrial cities to warmer, better climates,” he said.
Mimi’s can take some cues from Bob Evans, which has a 50-year history in the southeast with its own 500 Bob Evans restaurants, Bendel said.
Mimi’s has been adding restaurants at a 15% clip per year. Bendel said there are no plans to slow. He declined to say how big Mimi’s wants to get.
Mimi’s employs about 10,000 people, including 50 at its Tustin headquarters.
“We don’t feel at 104 restaurants that we’ve anywhere reached our potential,” he said.
So far, Mimi’s has been “well received in newer territories” and is “very bullish on how well it travels,” Bendel said.
The chain doesn’t do newspaper or radio ads. Instead, Bendel said Mimi’s lets the restaurants themselves act as a “billboard.”
Each is built like a house with lots of accents,brick, tiled roofs, granite, flowers, shutters and bright tablecloths.
That helps draw customers so Mimi’s can put its “advertising budget on the plate,” Bendel said.
The strategy has worked so far, particularly now that times are “a bit choppy” for restaurants, Bendel said.
High gas prices and rising interest rates have taken the wind out of sales for some restaurant chains in the casual dining segment.
In August, sales at Bob Evans restaurants open at least a year fell 4.2% from a year earlier. Mimi’s fared a little better with a 0.5% rise and a 2.6% increase in menu prices.
“It’s not as robust as it was this time last year, but we’re still reaching positive (comparisons) when a lot of people are reporting downturns,” Bendel said.
One reason: Mimi’s prices are low overall, with the average check less than $11, Bendel said.
The company raises prices about 2.5% per year, which amounts to about 25 cents per check, he said.
Mimi’s also continues to tweak its menu, which has 120 items, such as a pot roast sandwich, beef dip and cheeseburgers.
“That’s what keeps the brand fresh,” Bendel said. “We don’t set trends. We watch and follow trends.”
The company has to be careful not to become “stale,” Bendel said.
Competition is fierce and filled with bigger players, such as Overland Park, Kan.-based Applebee’s International Inc., which has 1,800 restaurants.
Mimi’s also faces other challenges as it opens restaurants.
“The cost of construction and materials has really outpaced inflation,” Bendel said.
Prices for copper, concrete and steel jumped about 15% in the past few years, Bendel said.
Mimi’s is choosy when opening restaurants and hasn’t closed one yet, according to Bendel.
“For 28-plus years it’s pretty amazing,” he said.
