Sizzler Restaurants International Inc

When Halina Douglas and her family gathered at a Sizzler's restaurant five years ago to celebrate her certification as a paralegal assistant, it was a poignant measure of how far she had come from the days when she was forced to flee war-torn Ukraine during World War II. But Douglas' moment of victory turned to disaster when a large menu sign fell from the wall and slammed into her head.

What can you say about a 50-year-old restaurant chain that (almost) died? You can say that in Sizzler's latest incarnation, it's trying to recapture a reputation for quality and value it last possessed two decades ago. "Some people in the industry thought we went away," Ken Cole told me last week.

With green walls punctuated by dark wood, the interior decor at Sizzler restaurants was so dreary that one customer compared it to Disneyland's Haunted Mansion. Now the folks at Sizzler are hoping that a brighter look featuring sunny yellow walls, cherry-stained table tops and more contemporary lighting will scare up more sales. "Our stores had become dated," admitted Kenneth Cole, president and chief executive of Sizzler USA.

Sizzler International, the nationwide steakhouse chain that started 39 years ago in a converted trailer in Culver City, on Sunday filed for Bankruptcy Court protection, the victim of shifting consumer tastes and relentless competition in the budget-priced restaurant business. Today, the company will close 130 U.S. restaurants and fire 4,600 employees, mostly part-timers.

Sizzler International said Monday that it temporarily closed two restaurants in Oregon after a food-poisoning outbreak, and it hired a microbiologist to help find the source of the bacterial infection. Meanwhile, the news helped push Sizzler's stock price down nearly 12% on the New York Stock Exchange, falling $1.125 per share to close at $8.50. The scope of the problem remains unclear. The Los Angeles-based company said seven people contracted an E.

With one foot in the buffet line and the other in the steak house world, Sizzler has earned a reputation in food circles as a "trough-brau," a place heavy eaters go to load up on $6.95 tri-tip and all-you-can-eat tapioca. But now it's trying to shake that image by introducing to the budget chain such extravagances as premium wine, USDA choice steaks and a soothing dark-wood interior.

No one leaves home with the intention of eating at a Denny's restaurant, Jay Leno wisecracked on a recent "Tonight Show." "You just kind of end up there." The audience's laughter seemed to underscore a question haunting the entire family restaurant industry, particularly in Southern California: Why eat at a coffee shop when fast food is half the price and a meal with a little more ambience is just a few bucks more?

Higher labor costs and a 6% sales drop at its Pat & Oscar's restaurant chain -- due in part to an outbreak of E. coli that sickened about 40 people -- sent fiscal second-quarter profit at Worldwide Restaurant Concepts Inc. plunging 78%, the company said Monday. The Sherman Oaks company, which also owns the Sizzler steak chain, posted net income of $318,000, or break-even on a per-share basis, for the period ended Oct. 12, compared with $1.4 million, or 5 cents, a year earlier. Revenue rose 18.

With much of the sizzle gone from its signature Sizzler steakhouses, Sherman Oaks-based Worldwide Restaurant Concepts Inc. is counting on a San Diego import to boost sales and attract investors to a chain whose stock has been trading below $5 since 1995. Acquired by Worldwide nearly three years ago, the Pat & Oscar's chain has been expanded from seven units to 19, including two that opened this month in Los Angeles County.

Increased sales Down Under helped the parent of the Sizzler steak restaurant chain post a fourfold increase in earnings for its second quarter ended Oct. 13, the parent firm said Friday. Sherman Oaks-based Worldwide Restaurant Concepts Inc. said net income for the quarter was $1.4 million, or 5 cents per share, compared with last year's $355,000, or 1 cent per share. Revenue was $64.4 million, a gain of 7.5% over the $59.9 million posted in the same period last year.

Sizzler International Inc., in a marketing gambit that hopes to deliver more steak than sizzle, said Thursday that it plans to change its name to Worldwide Restaurant Concepts Inc., effective Tuesday. The Culver City-based company, which has long struggled to lift its profit and stock price, said the name change would better reflect its international presence and its restaurants that aren't part of the Sizzler chain.

Sizzler International Inc., the Culver City-based operator and franchiser of Sizzler, KFC and Oscar's restaurants, said Thomas Metzger, president and chief executive of its Sizzler USA subsidiary, resigned. Metzger left the company after his father's death. Sizzler International President and Chief Executive Charles Boppel will assume Metzger's duties until a replacement is found. * Jack in the Box Inc. said longtime Chief Financial Officer Charles W. Duddles will retire from the company.

Guess Inc. said Thursday it had a fourth-quarter loss as slowed growth in its retail and wholesale businesses limited sales, and as the Los Angeles-based apparel maker and retailer wrote down excess inventory. The firm also said February same-store sales were sharply lower. Guess had a loss of $13.1 million, or 30 cents a share in the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with net income of $19.2 million, or 44 cents, a year earlier.

A 3-year-old girl who was sickened by E. coli poisoning linked to a Sizzler restaurant in Milwaukee died Friday of complications from the illness, hospital officials said. Sizzler International Inc. said it's assisting with the Milwaukee Health Department's investigation of an E. coli outbreak, which the company said may be linked to one of its steakhouses. The Culver City-based company's flagship Sizzler USA unit owns 65 restaurants and franchises 200 more across the U.S.

* Culver City-based Sizzler International Inc. reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income for the period ended May 3 of $2.4 million, or 8 cents per diluted share, compared with $2.0 million, or 7 cents, a year ago.

The owners of a Sizzler restaurant linked to a fatal E. coli outbreak shut down their second Sizzler in Wisconsin after two people who ate there became infected with the bacteria. Eschenbach & Boysa Management Co. voluntarily closed the Sizzler in the suburb of Wauwatosa, Wis., late Wednesday, the only other Sizzler in the state. The company last week closed its Milwaukee Sizzler, which is believed to be the source of the outbreak that has left 49 people ill, including 26 children.

As the number of E. coli victims from a Milwaukee Sizzler restaurant mushroomed to 42 Monday, Sizzler International officials scrambled to head off what could be a serious threat to its reputation and ultimately its economic survival. Milwaukee health officials on Monday confirmed 19 new cases of E. coli poisoning among people whohad eaten at a Sizzler franchise, just days after a 3-year-old girl died of complications from the food-borne illness.