Friday, September 15, 2000

Rising from ashes - again

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Perkins restaurant owners hope this one's permanent

By Anna Guido
Enquirer Contributor

        WEST CHESTER TWP. — In seven years, Bill and Cynthia Theiss twice dealt with the loss of their restaurant.

        The couple's place of business caught fire two times. The second time, March, astounded firefighters.

        “It was almost unbelievable at that point,” said Lt. Rick Prinz of the West Chester Township Fire Department. “It's very unusual for a building to burn down twice.”

On a site where a restaurant has burned to the ground twice, a new one is going up. Randy Staton, Perkins general manager, and Lisa Crawford, regional manager of the franchise, check its progress. (Dick Swaim photo) | ZOOM |

        Both fires at the Perkins Restaurant & Bakery on Tylersville Road were ruled accidental. The first, on Feb. 24, 1993, was caused by a discarded cigarette, Lt. Prinz said. The fire on March 10 was electrical.

        The Theisses are now building their restaurant for the third time and plan to reopen in November or December.

        Why such persistence?

        Simple. “I make money there. It's not my busiest, but it's busy,” said Mr. Theiss, who owns three other Perkins restaurants, in Fairfield, Sharonville and Springdale.

        Jerry Claringbole, a district franchise consultant for the Memphis, Tenn.-based company, said Mr. Theiss is an “outstanding franchisee,” in spite of the difficult times he's faced with the Tylersville Road restaurant.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Perkins Restaurant & Bakery at Tylersville Road and Interstate 75 is set to open in November or December. Business hours will be 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 6 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday.     Telephone, 777-6051.

        “It's by no means been easy for Bill,” Mr. Claringbole said.

        Mr. Theiss has been in the restaurant business since 1972. He started as a cook at age 23 after serving in Vietnam.

        The Perkins restaurant company was founded in the Cincinnati suburb of Silverton in 1959 by brothers Matt and Ivan Perkins, both now dead.

        “It's such a solid brand with a proven track record,” company spokeswoman Vivian Brooks said. “Over the years, Perkins has effectively evolved to adapt to consumer taste trends, which obviously change regularly.”

        One example is the in-store bakery that was incorporated into most Perkins restaurants in 1995. “Guests have really latched on to this,” Ms. Brooks said.

        The restaurant company now operates and franchises 482 restaurants in 35 states and four Canadian provinces.

        Ms. Brooks said company revenues for the first six months of 2000 are 7.5 percent higher than revenues reported during the same period last year.
       

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