Hooters, the restaurant chain recognized for its hen wings, its all-female serving employees in revealing outfits and its slogan — “delightfully cheesy, but unrefined” — has filed for chapter in a Texas court docket, the corporate introduced on Monday.
Underneath the chapter settlement, a gaggle that features the corporate’s founders — who independently run a few third of the franchised places in america — will purchase the company-owned eating places in america from the non-public fairness agency that owns the chain.
The difficult chapter submitting is a approach to hold most of the eating places open.
“Our famend Hooters eating places are right here to remain,” the corporate stated in its announcement. Through the chapter proceedings, Hooters eating places will proceed working — as the corporate stated on a web site explaining the transaction, “It’s at all times hold time at Hooters.”
Hooters, happy with its Buffalo hen wings however well-known for the low-cut tops and brilliant orange scorching pants worn by its waitresses, has greater than 400 places throughout 42 states and 29 international locations. A few of these eating places, together with the worldwide places, are run as franchises and won’t be affected by the chapter course of, the corporate stated.
After the method is accomplished, the entire chain’s places shall be franchises.
Studies that Hooters was contemplating submitting for chapter have been swirling for weeks, and first appeared in Bloomberg Information. Final summer season, Hooters closed dozens of eating places.
This week, Neil Kiefer, the chief government of an unbiased firm that runs a gaggle of authentic Hooters eating places, advised Bloomberg that he was planning what he referred to as a “re-Hooterization,” or rebrand, which would come with ending the chain’s “bikini nights.”
Mr. Kiefer is among the many proposed consumers of Hooters places from their non-public fairness homeowners. “As we glance towards the long run, we’re dedicated to restoring the Hooters model again to its roots,” he stated in an announcement saying the chapter course of.
The rebrand will purpose to present Hooters a extra healthful picture. In 2021, the corporate confronted backlash after altering its uniforms to incorporate shorts that have been so tiny that they resembled underwear. Hooters shortly reverted its coverage, giving employees members a selection of what shorts to put on.
Hooters isn’t the one well-known eating chain to wrestle over the previous few years, partly due to fallout from pandemic closures and inflation squeezing customers’ budgets. In November, TGI Friday’s filed for chapter safety, and final Could, Crimson Lobster, the American seafood staple, did the identical.
Hooters began 42 years in the past, when “six businessmen with completely no earlier restaurant expertise obtained collectively and determined to open a spot they couldn’t get kicked out of,” in accordance with the chain’s web site. The primary location opened in Clearwater, Fla., in October 1983.
The chain grew steadily, and its wide-eyed owl emblem and orange lettering grew to become ubiquitous within the Nineties and early 2000s, each on its many eating places and in in style tradition. In its heyday, Hooters’ branding may very well be seen at shovel racing competitions, on an area soccer staff and at a professional golf tour, to call a number of. It even appeared on an airline, Hooters Air, which operated for 3 years, from 2003 to 2006.