Introduction
2020 has been a difficult year for many businesses, especially restaurants. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many restaurant chains to close their doors and declare bankruptcy. In this article, we will take a look at the 10 biggest restaurant chain bankruptcies of 2020. We will discuss the reasons behind the bankruptcies, the impact on the restaurant industry, and the future of these restaurant chains. We will also explore the potential implications of these bankruptcies for the restaurant industry as a whole.
10 Biggest Restaurant Chain Bankruptcies of 2020
2020 has been a difficult year for many businesses, and the restaurant industry has been hit particularly hard. With the pandemic forcing many restaurants to close their doors, many restaurant chains have been forced to file for bankruptcy. Here are the 10 biggest restaurant chain bankruptcies of 2020.
1. Sizzler
Sizzler, the popular steakhouse chain, filed for bankruptcy in April 2020. The chain had been struggling for years, and the pandemic was the final nail in the coffin. Sizzler closed all of its locations in the United States, leaving only a handful of international locations still open.
2. Chuck E. Cheese
Chuck E. Cheese, the popular family restaurant chain, filed for bankruptcy in June 2020. The chain had been struggling for years, and the pandemic was the final straw. Chuck E. Cheese closed all of its locations in the United States, leaving only a handful of international locations still open.
3. California Pizza Kitchen
California Pizza Kitchen, the popular pizza chain, filed for bankruptcy in July 2020. The chain had been struggling for years, and the pandemic was the final blow. California Pizza Kitchen closed all of its locations in the United States, leaving only a handful of international locations still open.
4. Ruby Tuesday
Ruby Tuesday, the popular casual dining chain, filed for bankruptcy in July 2020. The chain had been struggling for years, and the pandemic was the final straw. Ruby Tuesday closed all of its locations in the United States, leaving only a handful of international locations still open.
5. Le Pain Quotidien
Le Pain Quotidien, the popular bakery chain, filed for bankruptcy in August 2020. The chain had been struggling for years, and the pandemic was the final nail in the coffin. Le Pain Quotidien closed all of its locations in the United States, leaving only a handful of international locations still open.
6. Brio Tuscan Grille
Brio Tuscan Grille, the popular Italian restaurant chain, filed for bankruptcy in August 2020. The chain had been struggling for years, and the pandemic was the final blow. Brio Tuscan Grille closed all of its locations in the United States, leaving only a handful of international locations still open.
7. Joe’s Crab Shack
Joe’s Crab Shack, the popular seafood chain, filed for bankruptcy in August 2020. The chain had been struggling for years, and the pandemic was the final straw. Joe’s Crab Shack closed all of its locations in the United States, leaving only a handful of international locations still open.
8. Friendly’s
Friendly’s, the popular family restaurant chain, filed for bankruptcy in August 2020. The chain had been struggling for years, and the pandemic was the final nail in the coffin. Friendly’s closed all of its locations in the United States, leaving only a handful of international locations still open.
9. Noodles & Company
Noodles & Company, the popular fast-casual chain, filed for bankruptcy in September 2020. The chain had been struggling for years, and the pandemic was the final blow. Noodles & Company closed all of its locations in the United States, leaving only a handful of international locations still open.
10. Potbelly Sandwich Shop
Potbelly Sandwich Shop, the popular sandwich chain, filed for bankruptcy in October 2020. The chain had been struggling for years, and the pandemic was the final straw. Potbelly Sandwich Shop closed all of its locations in the United States, leaving only a handful of international locations still open.
The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on companies of every type, however few institutions have suffered greater than eating places. Within the early days of the COVID-19 lockdowns, most eating places had been compelled to cease working—and even when restrictions eased, most eating institutions noticed far fewer patrons than ever earlier than.
Tens of hundreds of small companies have closed completely throughout the pandemic, with eating places representing a majority of them. Actually, practically 110,000 eating places in America shut down for good on account of COVID-19. Whereas typically extra resilient to the ravages of 2020, many main restaurant chains had been additionally hit exhausting.
Here’s a checklist of 10 main restaurant chains that filed for chapter in 2020. Hopefully, one thing might be completed to drag a few of these out of their monetary wrestle. Others have, sadly, already been added to our checklist of the saddest restaurant closures in each state.
Based within the late Nineteen Seventies and at one level numbering practically 100 areas underneath each the names Souplantation and Candy Tomatoes, this all-you-can-eat fashion buffet restaurant didn’t survive the COVID-19 pandemic. In March of 2020, the chain initially shuttered its areas on a short lived foundation, however inside lower than two months, introduced that the closure could be everlasting.
A beloved diner and ice cream store with an 85-year historical past, Pleasant’s filed for chapter within the late fall of 2020. The corporate introduced that they’d have the ability to maintain most of their 130 areas open whereas underneath Chapter 11 safety and predicted minimal layoffs. It is the second time in 10 years that Pleasant’s has filed for chapter.
After holding on for months, Ruby Tuesday filed for Chapter 11 chapter in early October of 2020. Some 185 areas had been closed completely, whereas one other 230-plus eating places stay in operation whereas the guardian firm appears to be like to consolidate debt and sure be offered off.
Straight citing the impression of the COVID-19 pandemic on its earnings, finances steakhouse Sizzler, which has been round for over 6 many years, filed for chapter in September of 2020 (regardless of a number of tens of millions of {dollars} in federal loans paid out earlier within the yr). The corporate stated in an announcement they didn’t intend to completely shut any areas.
Chuck E. Cheese was already carrying a debt load of greater than a billion when the pandemic compelled the shuttering of all of its areas nationwide. By late August, the guardian firm CC Leisure filed for chapter, and, now, the way forward for the 43-year-old firm is unclear.
In mid-summer 2020, CPK entered Chapter 11 chapter. Through the subsequent few months, the corporate managed to restructure and eradicate practically 1 / 4 of a billion in debt and by the late fall, California Pizza Kitchen emerged from chapter.
An early sufferer of the consequences of COVID-19, bakery, sandwich, and pastry chain Le Ache Quotidien filed for chapter in Could of 2020. This was not an awesome shock, nonetheless. As soon as numbering 300-plus areas, the chain was already right down to fewer than 100 spots left. A number of dozen eating places had been re-opened following a sale to a brand new guardian firm.
As soon as the profitable operator of greater than 1,600 restaurant franchises together with Wendy’s and Pizza Hut, NPC Worldwide filed for chapter in July. They’d already been shedding cash earlier than the pandemic, however its creation accelerated the folding.
Vegan fast-casual restaurant By CHLOE opened its first location in New York Metropolis in 2015, and inside a number of years, had a number of areas within the U.S, plus 5 in London and one in Canada. Sadly, in December 2020, citing the pandemic, the corporate filed for chapter.
CFRA Holdings managed practically 50 IHOP areas unfold throughout a number of southern states, however most of these eating places noticed a double-digit drop in earnings throughout the pandemic, prompting the corporate to file for chapter in Could. IHOP’s guardian firm, Dine Manufacturers World, dedicated to re-opening the shuttered areas.
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