Legal Commentary

Can Schiller and Del Grande save Cafe Express?

By Tom Kirkendall

At one time earlier this decade, the Cafe Express restaurants were among the best "upscale" fast food restaurants in Houston, perhaps anywhere. Then, in 2004, Wendy's International purchased a majority stake in Cafe Express from the original owners, Lonnie Schiller and Robert Del Grande, who also own the popular upscale Houston restaurant, Cafe Annie.

Wendy's promptly operated the Cafe Express restaurants like, well, like Wendy's. No one would confuse their local Wendy's with an upscale fast food restaurant. It became clear quickly that Wendy's did not have a clue of how to manage an upscale fast food restaurant chain. Cafe Express suffered.

Reflecting that hope springs eternal, this David Kaplan/Chronicle article reports that Schiller and Del Grande have purchased Cafe Express from Wendy's (hopefully at a BIG discount). It's a different and more competitive market in the "upscale" fast food industry now than when Schiller and Del Grand sold to Wendy's, so there is no certainly that Schiller and Del Grande will be able to infuse Cafe Express with its lost luster. But I'm pulling for them.

Full post as published by Houston's Clear Thinkers on February 04, 2008 (boomark / email).