VILLAGE INN HONORS TOP-PERFORMING FRANCHISEES AT ANNUAL CONVENTION IN LAS VEGAS (1/02)

Village Inn, a family-dining Restaurant chain with more than 220 locations, primarily in the Rocky Mountain region, Midwest, Southwest and Florida, has named KAW Pancake Houses, Inc. of Mission, Kan., and Family Restaurants Inc., based here, its single- and multi-unit franchisees of the year, respectively. The franchisees were honored during an awards presentation ceremony at the 2001 Village Inn Franchise convention in Las Vegas last month. The franchisee of the year awards are based on outstanding quality and excellence of food, enthusiasm, dedication and willingness in working with Village Inn corporate staff, and their efforts to improve and expand the national image of Village Inn.

Bob and Melanie McDaniel, operators of the KAW Village Inn franchise in Mission, Kan., were honored for recording positive sales growth and demonstrated exemplary Gold Standard Validations (a measurement derived from Village Inn's mission statement, which reads in part, "we are recognized as the gold standard for family restaurants").

Family Restaurants, Inc. operates 10 Village Inn restaurants in Colorado, including two new locations that opened last year as part of a four-store development agreement. A third location is set to open in La Junta, Colorado in 2002. The Village Inn restaurants operated by Family Restaurants generated over $14 million in sales and serviced more than 2.3 million guests in fiscal year 2001. President Dave Lidvall led a team whose commitment to utilizing Village Inn's proven operating systems not only yielded outstanding results for Family Restaurants but also lent strong support to the Village Inn brand image of satisfying people's hunger for life's simple pleasures.

Consistent efforts by both organizations have made Village Inn customers feel like welcomed guests. Their ability to deliver high-quality food in a relaxed family environment is what ultimately earned KAW and Family Restaurants Village Inn's highest praise, according to Robert Kaltenbach, chief operating officer of Village Inn parent VICORP Restaurants, Inc.

"Although these awards are for the 'franchisee of the year,' in truth they recognize the efforts of many individuals. Every Village Inn franchisee and employee contributes to our brand strength by striving for efficient daily operations and being highly motivated to provide 'Good Food . Good Feelings®,' our company slogan and brand promise," he said.

Further recognizing the combination of teamwork and leadership necessary to run a successful restaurant, Village Inn presented its Franchise Manager of the Year award to Gabe Martinez of Las Cruces, N.M. The award honors the franchise manager who best exemplifies the Village Inn "Gold Standard" of restaurant operations, community relations and training environment. Under Mr. Martinez's direction, the Las Cruces (Telshor) restaurant has achieved four consecutive years of guest count and sales increases, including a boost of over 83,500 more guests dining at the location last year than the year before.

Top-Grossing Units Also Honored
For 16 of the past 18 years, franchisees Scott and Mark Anderson and their management team received Village Inn's Top Sales award. This year, the brothers' Northern Lights restaurant in Anchorage, Alaska, attained $3.74 million in sales volume and was again the year's highest-grossing restaurant, outpacing the annual sales performance of all 224 system-wide Village Inn locations.

Franchisee Dow Sherwood Corp. recorded the second-highest sales volume, drawing in $3.15 million for its Dale Mabry location in Tampa, Fla. Virginia Beach franchisee Greg Robinson finished a strong third with $2.7 million.

In addition, franchisee Mike Bassett and his managers in St. George, Utah, received the Top Sales Achievement Award for an 11.84 percent increase in sales over the previous year. Dow Sherwood Corp. followed as a close second with an 11.76 percent increase in sales compared to last year for its Titusville, Fla., location.

"The performance of all our award winners this year is a testimony to their dedication to the Village Inn brand to satisfy our customers' appetites for life's simple pleasures," says Kaltenbach. "Their example helps drive the consistency necessary to keep our brand top of mind in all markets and position us to acquire an even larger share of the family-dining segment."

About Village Inn

Village Inn is a division of Denver-based VICORP Restaurants, Inc., operator and franchisor of more than 370 mid-sized family-dining restaurants under the Village Inn and Bakers Square names. The first Village Inn opened in Denver, Colo., in 1958. Today there are more than 220 restaurants (including 115 franchise locations) operating primarily in the Rocky Mountain region, the Midwest, the Southwest and Florida. The company currently has franchise development agreements in place for 27 new restaurants in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida and Kansas and plans to add 100 restaurants throughout the country over the next five to seven years. Prime markets are available for development.