(WJET/WFXP) – Hooters, a US-based restaurant chain known for its chicken wings and “Hooters Girl,” has filed for bankruptcy protection.
HOA Restaurant Group filed a Chapter 11 protection claim Monday with North Texas Bankruptcy Court in Dallas.
The company has encountered financial problems as its debt increased, but it says it intends to remain open within a few months to resolve the issue. The company’s original founders group, which owns almost a third of Hooters’ US locations, will buy and operate more stores, including about half of its largest volume restaurants, Hooters said in a news release.
Hooters Inc., founder of Hooters Concept, which owns and operates 22 Hooters restaurants in Tampa Bay and Chicagoland, has reached an agreement with Owl Restaurant LLC to acquire a Footers Restaurant owned by HOA and more than 100 HOAs.
“Our famous Hooters restaurant is staying here and we are taking action to strengthen our business to provide better service to our valued customers over the long term,” the company said in a notice on its website.
The company owns and operates 151 restaurants directly in 22 states and maintains franchise agreements with 154 franchise restaurants in 19 states and 17 countries in the US, Europe, Asia and Africa. It employs approximately 5,957 employees.
The company currently holds $376 million in debt, but generated $358.9 million in revenue in 2024, according to court documents.
In a Bloomberg report, Neil Kiefer, CEO of HCM Hospitality Group, said:
Kiefer said, “You went to some parts of the country and people said, ‘I never could go to Hooters, my wife would kill me.’ It’s depressing to us.
Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Hooters was founded in 1983 in Clearwater, Florida. The trouble was brewed for a while.
The Hooters had sponsored the No. 9 NASCAR car driven by Chase Elliott since 2017, but last year Hendrick Motorsports ended its longtime sponsor relationship as it failed to meet its financial commitment.
Its business strategy has faced many years of challenges, including lawsuits over the employment of “Hooters Girls” only to serve customers.
Last year, he paid $250,000 and agreed to provide other relief to resolve the race and color discrimination lawsuit that brought the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to Hooters Outlet in Greensboro, North Carolina.
In 2022, the restaurant claimed it had been closed and rebranded due to changes in customer preferences.
In 2019, Hooters Hotel Casino from the Las Vegas Strip was sold to an Indian hotel company and rebranded as Oyo Hotel and Casino.
In 2017, the company opened a restaurant that did not have tight tops and wait staff as a test of a different approach to the original concept.
The company does not expect to change its product offerings, reward programs or gift cards.
In recent years, several long-term brands have filed for bankruptcy. Among them are Party City, Craft Retailer Joan, Forever 21, Big Lot, TGI Friday and Container Store. Some companies have been able to recover from bankruptcy filings. RedLobster survived last year’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy and now has a new owner.
Nexstar’s Addy Bink and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
