Bennigan's Closing Company Owned Restaurants In Midst Of Bankruptcy Filing

[Family Ties Forever!]

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Bennigan's Closing Company Owned Restaurants in Midst of Bankruptcy Filing
Bennigan's Franchises to Remain Open - for Now

By Sylvia Cochran, published Jul 29, 2008
Published Content: 352

Bennigan's Closing Company Owned Restaurants in Midst of Bankruptcy Filing

As Bennigan's closing news is a surprise to employees and the lunch crowd alike, franchisees scramble to let their clientele know that they are still open. Employees were not made aware of the impending loss of their jobs until this very morning.

Bennigan's Grill & Tavern used to be the Metro Media Restaurant Group owned mock Irish family dining spot where Friday and Saturday night food and fun made for a great date locale. Today Bennigan's news is not good and all company owned restaurants have closed their doors without warning. As these Bennigan's closing news is a surprise to employees and the lunch crowd alike, franchisees scramble to let their clientele know that they are still open.

Bennigan's restaurant closures are seen throughout the United States and those who never saw the end of their casual dining establishment coming were dumbfounded to learn that the company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy relief in the early morning hours of July 29th, 2008. Employees were not made aware of the impending loss of their jobs until this very morning, and tensions are running high. Adding insult to injury is the rumored possibility that employees may not even get their last paychecks as all company assets are now under bankruptcy court control!

CBS 2 News out of Chicago reports that the company owned stores -- which are the only Bennigan's closing their doors - make up half of all locations but customers usually do not know which locale is company owned and which is a franchise. This has led to a number of frustrated lunch bunch meetups and of course also put speculation over possible reasons for the sudden closure into overdrive.

The fate of the closed Bennigan's restaurants is not openly mentioned, deferring all decisions to the bankruptcy trustee; however, since the filing was a Chapter 7 - necessitating a complete liquidation of all assets - rather than Chapter 11 reorganization, the odds are good that the doors will be closed indefinitely. The fate of the franchise restaurants at this point is still unclear.

Even as the franchised Bennigan's restaurants remain open, the future use of the name, and also the relationship with the company that held all the rights to it may prove dicey. As of yet they are open and promise to remain so - until further notice.

© 2008 Associated Content, Inc.

[dawsongirl]

Hmm...we have a couple. I wonder if they are company owned.

[catlover79]

There's a Bennigan's just down the road from where I work. My family has eaten there many times. What a shame.

[Nighthawk76]

This is really sad. During the summer of '97, my friends and I went there nearly every night after work. It was our hangout that summer.

[Hollow]

butters will be so disappointed.

[catlover79]

Right next door to our Bennigan's is a Chi Chi's that has been vacant for years. It'll look eerie if/when Benningan's closes.

[dawsongirl]

Originally Posted by catlover79

Right next door to our Bennigan's is a Chi Chi's that has been vacant for years. It'll look eerie if/when Benningan's closes.

We were lucky that they tore our Chi Chi's down rather quickly so it didn't have to sit there vacant like the restaurant across the street. Both of our Bennigan's are attached to hotels, so who knows, they may not sit empty too long.

[catlover79]

^ Plus the street where these buildings are is a half-mile from a freeway on-ramp, and there are plenty of restaurants/gas stations/hotels around. It's a very central location. Oh well.