Cover Story
Betting the farm
How Steve Davis used five principles to rebuild the Bob Evans brand — and its balance sheet
By Nancy Byron
Smart Business Columbus | February 2008
Page 1 of 4
When Steve Davis took the helm of Bob Evans Farms Inc. in
2006, the company was in poor shape.
Same store sales — one of the most relied-upon measures of
financial health in the restaurant industry — had been falling
steadily for two years. Restaurants were closing. Shareholders
were unhappy.
His predecessor, Stewart Owens, had stepped down after profits fell eight out of nine quarters prior to his resignation — and
net income in fiscal 2005 had dropped 48 percent from the previous year.
The only bright spot was sales, which were growing, but at a
lackluster, single-digit pace.
“When I met all the people and looked at the historical performance, I realized these are good people. They just needed a
rudder,” says Davis, chairman and CEO of the nearly $1.7 billion,
Columbus-based company. “They needed somebody to come in
and say, ‘Let’s see what we can do.’”
