The corporate parent of Perkins Restaurant & Bakery and Marie Callender’s said it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to facilitate a sale.
Perkins & Marie Callender’s Holding LLC , operator of the two family and casual dining chains, announced Aug. 5 it filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors in preparation to sell assets.
According to Bloomberg, the company owes its lenders more than $100 million. This marks the second time in eight years the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Ahead of the announcement, the company said on Aug. 4 it closed 32 underperforming locations, including 11 Perkins and 21 Marie Callender restaurants. No Perkins restaurants in Pennsylvania were part of the closure.
“All remaining restaurants will be open and operating as usual and guests can expect to continue to enjoy the great food and hospitality for which Perkins and Marie Callender’s are known,” read a press statement.
The company operates 400 stores under the Perkins and Marie Callender brands in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Its Foxtail Foods manufactures pies, pancake mixes, cookie dough, and muffin batter for in-store bakeries and third-party customers.
Chief Executive Jeffrey Warne said in a court declaration that falling sales “across the family-dining and casual-dining industries” in 2017 and 2018, “elevated” commodity prices, rising minimum wages and “an increasingly tight labor market” were factors leading to the bankruptcy, according to Bloomberg.
He said Perkins Group LLC will be a “stalking horse” bidder to buy Perkins and some assets of its Foxtail bakery. Talks are ongoing for Marie Callender’s and other Foxtail assets, he said.