Smokey Bones Barbeque and Grill

Smokey Bones Barbeque and Grill is a chain of casual dining restaurants. Its headquarters is in Orlando, Florida and it is owned by Sun Capital Partners. Darden Restaurants, Inc. created the concept and the first Smokey Bones restaurant opened in Orlando, Florida, in 1999. It currently has 73 restaurants in 17 Eastern states. [cite web |url=http://direct.where2getit.com/cwc/apps/w2gi.php?client=smokeybones&template=index&
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Atmosphere

Smokey Bones creates a rustic mountain lodge setting by using lots of wood, including tall timbers and logs, stacked stone, fireplaces, and imagery of mountain settings. Unlike a rustic mountain lodge there are multiple televisions hung throughout the seating area, as well as at the bar. Television volume and channel can be controlled via audio boxes that are located at many tables and (in some restaurants) throughout the bar.

Divestiture and closings

On May 5, 2007 it was announced that Darden Restaurants was closing 54 Smokey Bones Restaurants and the remaining 73 restaurants would go up for sale. The reason given was Darden wanted to "better position itself for future casual dining leadership". Smokey Bones had lagged the performance of Darden’s other brands as the barbecue concept’s core guests chose to dine at Smokey Bones with less frequency. There were a number of Smokey Bones restaurants that had not performed well for some time and the declining trend accelerated. [cite web |url=http://www.darden.com/rest_smokey_bones_close_release.asp |title=Darden Restaurants announces the closing of Smokey Bones |accessdate=2007-05-05] [cite web |url=http://www.smokeybones.com/closed_restaurants.asp |title=List of closing stores |accessdate=2007-05-05] The chain was sold to Barbeque Integrated, an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners in December 2007 for $80 million. The deal was finialized in January 2008.Some of the anticipated changes will be to add flavors to its barbecue recipes, improve customer service, and concentrate more on beer and frozen adult beverages. The Smokey Bones name will remain the same, and Sun Capital said it has plans to expand the concept into existing and new markets. [cite web |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/2007/12/03/daily31.html?ana=from_rss|title=Smokey Bones under new ownership |accessdate=2008-01-14]

References

See also

*Darden Restaurants, Inc.

External links

* [http://www.smokeybones.com/ Smokey Bones Barbeque and Grill's Official Home Page]