Perkins & Marie Callender’s files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Restaurant owner Perkins & Marie Callender's Inc., which operates several stores in the Las Vegas Valley, on Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, brought down by tough competition, the weak economy and rising food costs.
The owner of the Perkins Restaurant & Bakery and the Marie Callender's chains said in the filing it plans to shutter 65 stores and cut 2,500 jobs, or about 20 percent of its work force of 12,350.
The company cited the weak economic climate, particularly in Florida and California, where many of its restaurants are located, for the bankruptcy filing.
The company operates five Marie Callender's locations in Las Vegas and Henderson. There are no Perkins Restaurants and Bakery outlets in Nevada.
Documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware said the company could not afford to build new restaurants and upgrade existing ones, so it lost traffic to better-funded restaurant competitors.
The Memphis, Tenn., company had assets of about $290 million and liabilities of $440.8 million, according to the filing.
The company has 160 owned and 314 franchised Perkins restaurants and 85 owned and 37 franchised Marie Callender's. It also runs a baker goods manufacturing division, Foxtail Foods, which makes pies, pancake mix and other items for its in-store bakeries and third-party customers.
