CHARLEY BROWN'S LAST STAND IN VALLEY : FIRM TO SELL CHAIN IN FAVOR OF MEXICAN FOOD.Byline: Russ Britt Daily News Staff Writer The last Charley Brown's steakhouse in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. is up for sale as its parent company, Family Restaurants Inc. of Irvine, divests some of its troubled assets to concentrate on expanding its Mexican food chains. A mainstay in Woodland Hills for 25 years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time restaurant is among 21 Charley Brown's and Reuben's outlets that Irvine-based Family Restaurants has been trying to sell for more than a year, said Kevin Relyea, the company's president. The restaurant employs roughly 80 to 100 people. The company does not plan to close any of the restaurants, although those who buy them will do as they please, Relyea said. The company projects it could fetch a total of $13 million for the outlets, and lose $3.6 million. The two chains have 1,350 employees overall. ``We're considering some offers on the real estate. We're also considering offers on the whole concept,'' Relyea said. ``We don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what's going to happen. It all depends on who buys the chain.'' The Charley Brown's chain thrived in the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. region during the 1970s and 1980s, with two other restaurants in Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. and Northridge. There also were a number of Reuben's restaurants, including a Canoga Park facility that closed in 1994. Together, the two chains had a total of 100 dinner houses throughout California. But the restaurants fell on hard times as the public's taste changed from dimly lit steakhouses toward healthier foods, said Janet Lowder, an industry analyst. ``They've been on a downhill course for quite some time,'' Lowder said. ``They're a dark steakhouse. They didn't change with the times.'' In all, Family Restaurants has lost $288 million over the last two years. Charley Brown's has at least two supporters in Bill and Elizabeth Raymond, a Woodland Hills couple who frequent the restaurant at least once a week. ``We've been coming here for 22 years. We have our favorite waitress and waiters,'' Bill Raymond said. ``We hope that the place doesn't close up.'' But Thursday, the parking lot of the restaurant - on Ventura Boulevard Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east-west thouroughfares in the San Fernando Valley; as it was originally a part of the El Camino Real (the trail between Spanish missions), Ventura Boulevard is the oldest route in the San Fernando Valley. It was also U.S. , between De Soto de So·to , Hernando or Fernando 1496?-1542. Spanish explorer who landed in Florida in 1539 with 600 men and set out to search for the fabled riches of the north. and Winnetka avenues - had only a few scattered cars, and the steakhouse looked to be about a quarter full. Relyea said the company already has sold its Coco's and Carrow's chains to South Carolina-based Flagstar Corp. It will retain its El Torito The format developed by Phoenix Technologies and IBM that has become the standard for creating bootable CD-ROMs on the Intel platform. El Torito provides only the format. In order to make a CD-ROM bootable, the correct boot images must be placed on the disc, and the target computer must , Casa Gallardo and Chi-Chi's. When all the planned sales take place, the company will be pared down from 42,000 to about 20,000 workers, Relyea said. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1--Color) Bill and Elizabeth Raymond eat about o nce a week at the Charley Brown's in Woodland Hills. (2--Color) The Valley's last Charley Brown's restaurant is up for sale. Phil McCarten/Daily News |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion