Latest news with #Hooters'
Business Insider
6 hours ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Hulk Hogan wants to reimagine Hooters restaurants as his Real American Beer brand makes a new bid to save the chain
Hulk Hogan's beer brand is making a bigger bid to save Hooters of America and get the chain growing again. Real American Beer is spearheading a bid for the entire Hooters of America business, including the chain's restaurants, Business Insider has learned. The chain filed for bankruptcy in March. The beer brand, founded in 2024 by wrestling legend Hulk Hogan, expressed interest last month in Hooters' brand name, BI reported. Since then, Real American has assembled a team with broader experience, including running restaurant chains, CEO Terri Francis told BI. "Hulk Hogan and Real American Beer are fully committed to protecting and revitalizing the iconic American brand Hooters," Francis said. Hogan and Real American have "assembled a world-class team" to handle multiple elements of the Hooters business, including real estate, franchising, brand building, and social media marketing, she told BI. The parties overseeing Hooters' bankruptcy would need to approve the bid, and its terms could change. The latest bid puts Hulk's company in direct competition with a proposal led by Hooters Inc., which oversees some franchised Hooters locations and is run by CEO Neil Kiefer, one of Hooters' original cofounders. If successful, the Real American-led bid would aim to grow the Hooters business, including through new revenue streams like merchandise, a person familiar with the bid told BI. The person was not authorized to speak publicly about the bid. It would also find a strategy that could get more diners, especially people in their 20s and 30s, stopping by Hooters' restaurants. "Cheap beer and fattening wings aren't the food or drink of the younger generation," the person said. "Hulk can solve that." Hooters' debt could be key to Hulk's bid The Real American bid faces some challenges. For one, Real American would have to find another entity to own the Hooters locations since US liquor laws prevent alcohol brands from owning restaurants. Another challenge is satisfying Hooters of America bondholders, the person familiar with Real American's bid said. Under current plans, Hooters of America would continue paying bondholders what they're owed, according to bankruptcy filings. The company entered bankruptcy with $376 million in debt. Real American's bid, meanwhile, assumes that Hooters' debt holders would need to settle for less than what Hooters owes them in order to make investments in the business and avoid another bankruptcy in the future, the person familiar with Real American's plans said. "It is an uphill struggle as long as someone is bidding the full value of the bonds," the person said, referring to Hooters Inc.'s bid. Hooters Inc. and Hooters of America did not respond to requests for comment from BI. Hooters' founders opened their first restaurant in 1983 in Clearwater, Florida — the birthplace and home of Hulk Hogan. The chain grew to hundreds of restaurants, including many outside the US, over the next few decades. In the early 2000s, Hooters also briefly operated an airline, Hooters Air. Since 2019, the chain has been owned by private equity firms Nord Bay Capital and TriArtisan Capital Advisors. Last year, Hooters closed about 40 locations, citing declining sales. When it filed for bankruptcy this spring, Hooters of America had about 300 locations. Last week, the company identified about 30 more restaurants that it plans to shutter. Real American is hoping that it can reverse Hooters' fortunes. "This isn't about preserving nostalgia," Francis said of the bid that the company is leading. "It's about unlocking Hooters' next era of growth."
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Hooters location in Rockford shuts down permanently after nearly a decade
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Hooters' Rockford location has permanently closed its doors, according to the chain's . Hooters filed for Chapter 11 back in March after reports of mounting debt and financial woes. 'Our renowned Hooters restaurants are here to stay and we are taking action to strengthen our business to better serve our valued customers over the long term,' the company said in a notice on its website in April after filing for bankruptcy protection. Despite those claims, the chain's Rockford location, at 6904 Argus Drive, has been officially closed for good. The location had been open in Rockford for 24 years. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
USA Today
02-04-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Restaurant chain Hooters files for bankruptcy to enable founder-led buyout
Restaurant chain Hooters files for bankruptcy to enable founder-led buyout Show Caption Hide Caption Hooters plans to file for bankruptcy Casual restaurant chain Hooters is going to file for bankruptcy in the coming months due to rising costs of food and rent. Fox - 10 Phoenix Restaurant chain Hooters of America filed for bankruptcy in Texas on Monday, seeking to address its $376 million debt by selling all of its company-owned restaurants to a franchise group backed by the company's founders. Hooters, like other casual dining restaurants, has struggled in recent years due to inflation, the high costs of labor and food, and declining spending by cash-strapped American consumers. The company currently directly owns and operates 151 locations, with another 154 restaurants operated by franchisees, primarily in the United States. The privately owned company, which shares a private equity owner with recently bankrupt TGI Fridays, intends to sell all corporate-owned locations to a buyer group comprised of two existing Hooters franchisees, who operate 30 high-performing Hooters locations in the U.S., mainly in Florida and Illinois. Hooters did not disclose the purchase price of the transaction, which must be approved by a U.S. bankruptcy judge before it becomes final. Founded in 1983, Hooters became famous for its chicken wings and its servers' uniform of orange shorts and low-cut tank tops. The buyer group is backed by some of Hooters' original founders, and it pledged to take Hooters 'back to its roots.' "With over 30 years of hands-on experience across the Hooters ecosystem, we have a profound understanding of our customers and what it takes to not only meet, but consistently exceed their expectations," said Neil Kiefer, a member of the buyer group and the current CEO of the original Hooters' location in Clearwater, Florida. Hooters said it expects to complete the deal and emerge from bankruptcy in three to four months. The company has lined up about $35 million in financing from its existing lender group to complete the bankruptcy transaction. Casual dining restaurants have been hammered by rising costs in 2024, with well-known chains like TGI Fridays, Red Lobster, Bucca di Beppo, and Rubio's Coastal Grill all filing for bankruptcy last year. Restaurant prices have risen about 30% in the last 5 years, outpacing consumer prices overall, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hooters Files For Bankruptcy After Shutting Down Restaurants
Last year, Hooters quietly shut down dozens of restaurants across the United States, and now it looks like there's a good reason for that move as the restaurant chain announced on Monday that it had filed for bankruptcy. The restaurant chain closed at least 44 of its "underperforming" restaurants across 14 different states last year in a move that it said was in response to "pressure from current market conditions." "Ensuring the well-being of our staff is our priority in these rare instances," the company said in a statement. "This brand of 41 years remains highly resilient and relevant. We look forward to continuing to serve our guests at home, on the go and at our restaurants here in the U.S. and around the globe." However, that does not seem to have solved their woes as the company announced on Monday that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Texas court. 'Today's announcement marks an important milestone in our efforts to reinforce Hooters' financial foundation and continue delivering the guest-obsessed hospitality experience and delicious food our customers and communities have come to expect,' said Sal Melilli, chief executive officer of Hooters of America in the release. This move comes after the parent company's CEO revealed plans to make the restaurant chain known for its beer and skantily dressed waitresses a little more family friendly. Neil Kiefer, CEO of HMC Hospitality Group – the parent company of the group of men who created the Hooters brand – recently spoke to Bloomberg about what he called a 're-Hooterization.' 'You go to some parts of the country and people say, 'Oh, I could never go to Hooters, my wife would kill me,'' Kiefer said. 'That's depressing to us. We want to change that.' We'll have to see whether or not the bankruptcy process and the re-branding can save the struggling restaurant chain.
Bloomberg
01-04-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Bracebridge Capital to Provide Bankruptcy Loan to Hooters
Bracebridge Capital is among the lenders that will provide a bankruptcy loan to Hooters of America to help fund the chain's Chapter 11 process, according to people with knowledge of the matter that asked not to be identified because they're not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The restaurant chain filed for bankruptcy on Monday, including roughly $300 million asset backed bonds that are tied to Hooters' franchise. The company will seek court approval to get $40 million of debtor-in-possession financing from certain existing lenders, including $35 million of new capital, Hooters said in a press release on Monday.
