Max & Erma's

{{Short description|American restaurant chain}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Max & Erma's

| logo = Melogo.gif

| type = Subsidiary

| key_people = Todd Barnum and Barry Zacks (co-founders)

| industry = Restaurant

| parent = Glacier Restaurant Group

| foundation = 1972

| location_city = Columbus, Ohio

| homepage = [https://www.maxandermas.com/ www.maxandermas.com]

}}

Max & Erma's is an American casual dining restaurant chain based in Columbus, Ohio. {{Asof|April 2024}}, the company operates seven locations in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, down from a peak of 110 restaurants across more than 12 states in the mid-2000s.{{cite news |last1=Eaton |first1=Dan |title=The Max & Erma's story: How the restaurant chain went from a regional giant to just seven remaining locations |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2024/01/11/max-ermas-rise-fall-evolution-history.html |access-date=20 September 2024 |work=Columbus Business First |date=January 11, 2024}} It was founded in 1972 by Todd Barnum and Barry Zacks. The two businessmen purchased a local tavern in Columbus's German Village which had been operated by Max and Erma Visocnik since 1958; Erma died in 1977, and Max died in 1995. Barnum and Zacks retained the Max & Erma's name and created the theme restaurant, which featured a converted bathtub serving as a sundae bar.{{cite web |url=http://www.maxandermas.com/misc/our_memories.asp |title=Our Memories |publisher=Max and Erma's |accessdate=Nov 13, 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101126143536/http://maxandermas.com/misc/our_memories.asp |archivedate=2010-11-26 }}

Max & Erma's was purchased by Pittsburgh-based equity investor G&R Acquisition Inc. in a $10.2{{nbsp}}million deal in April 2008.{{cite news| url=http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/04/28/daily2.html?jst=b_ln_hl | first=Dan | last=Eaton | title=Max & Erma's to be acquired for $10.2M |work=Columbus Business First| date=April 28, 2008 |accessdate=2019-11-22}} The company declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 26, 2009.{{cite web|date=October 26, 2009|url=http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2009/10/26/max_ermas.html?sid=101|title=Max & Erma's files for bankruptcy|work=The Columbus Dispatch|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010194119/http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2009/10/26/max_ermas.html|archive-date=October 10, 2012}} It was acquired by American Blue Ribbon Holdings, owners of the Village Inn and Bakers Square restaurant chains, in 2010.{{Citation needed|date=February 2020}}

On January{{nbsp}}25, 2016, it was announced that Glacier Restaurant Group had purchased Max & Erma's from American Blue Ribbon Holdings. The sale followed the closure of 19 of the restaurant's locations that were described as underperforming.Press Release: GLACIER RESTAURANT GROUP BUYS MAX & ERMA’S TO ADD TO ITS GROWING PORTFOLIO http://www.grgfood.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/GRG-Acquires-Max-and-Ermas-1.25.16-2.pdf

On July{{nbsp}}28, 2017, Glacier announced that the original German Village Max & Erma's location would close on August{{nbsp}}7, 2017, citing a lack of financial viability.{{cite web |last=Malone |first=JD |date=July 28, 2017 |title=Original Max & Erma's in German Village to close Aug 7 |url=http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170728/original-max-amp-ermas-in-german-village-to-close-aug-7 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801043038/http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170728/original-max--ermas-in-german-village-to-close-aug-7 |archive-date=August 1, 2017 |access-date=17 Sep 2024 |work=The Columbus Dispatch}}