Add Bar Louie to the growing list of restaurant chains struggling to stay afloat in the current economy, as the company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Videos by Suggest
The Texas-based bar chain filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, citing “a range of financial and operational challenges,” as detailed in court filings obtained by USA Today.
The news follows the recent closure of several Bar Louie locations across the U.S., including Detroit, Nashville, and East Brunswick, New Jersey.
The company said in a press release that the filing “is not expected to impact the company’s day-to-day operations. Prior to the filing, Bar Louie closed underperforming locations to enhance its financial stability.”
Bar Louie, established in 1991 in Chicago, Illinois, operates 31 company-owned locations alongside 17 franchised locations across 19 states, according to its court filing. As part of its bankruptcy proceedings, the company announced plans to close at least 13 corporate-owned locations. Currently, its website lists a total of 48 locations.
Bar Louie Exec Points to ‘Inflationary Pressures’ as a Cause of Consumers Cutting Back on Dining Out
The company’s chief administrative officer, Leslie Crook, also weighed in on the bankruptcy filing.
“Inflationary pressures have caused consumers, generally, to cut back on dining out. At the same time, menu prices have risen to keep pace with increased food, utility, and labor costs,” Crook explained in the bankruptcy filing. “As a result, many of [Bar Louie’s] restaurants have underperformed. [This caused] a drag on [Bar Louie’s] financial performance and management attention.”
Bar Louie filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and was bought by its current owners, BLH TopCo, during that process. In 2018, before the bankruptcy, the chain had over 130 locations, per Nation’s Restaurant News.
The company’s bankruptcy filing revealed estimated assets ranging from $1 million to $10 million. Meanwhile, its liabilities are significantly higher, between $50 million and $100 million. The company’s largest creditor, US Foods, is owed over $1.8 million.
Of course, Bar Louie is far from the only chain suffering in the current economy. Denny’s recently shuttered another slew of locations, and Hooters announced an overhaul in an attempt to salvage its brand.
In its filing, Bar Louie described the current state of the restaurant business as an environment of “increased costs of operation and mounting macroeconomic pressures.”