"chapter 11" news and stories

The owners of Michael Jordan's The Steakhouse NYC, which overlooks the famed lobby of Grand Central Terminal, are bankrupt. No, not His Airness; the restaurant group just licenses Jordan's name.

The Glazier Group, which owns the New York steakhouse and six Strip House restaurants, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Southern District Court on Monday, Crain's New York Business reported.

Owners Peter and Penny Glazier said the group's restaurants and catering venues, including Bridgewaters and the Twenty Four Fifth ballroom near Manhattan's Washington Square Park, will not be affected. (The Michael Jordan's Steakhouse at Mohegan Sun Casino, in Connecticut, is owned by the Cornerstone Restaurant Group, with no affiliation to the Glazier Group.)

"We are restructuring corporate debt," Peter Glazier told Crains. "We tried to make a deal with our lenders, and we could not." The restaurants, he added, are "doing very well."

It appears that right now is not a good time to be in the food business. First Bennigan's closed the majority of their stores and now Mrs. Field's Famous Brand is planning on filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

According to Forbes, the cookie maker won't be able to make a scheduled debt payment in September. The company is currently "soliciting votes from creditors for a 'prepackaged' bankruptcy reorganization plan." That means that the people in charge at Mrs. Field's are talking to creditors to see if they'll agree to the company's reorganization plans. So far about two thirds of the creditors have agreed to the prepackaged bankruptcy deal.

For the plan to go through, Mrs. Field's has to file by August 25. It's been forever since I had a Mrs. Field's cookie, and if lots of other consumers are like me, that's probably part of the reason they're heading into bankruptcy. Are Mrs. Field's products good enough to save, or should the company just give it up?

[via Coldmud]

Could Wonder Bread is going the way of so many other empty carbohydrates, disappearing into the annals of pop culture? So says NPR's Morning Edition. The company that makes the stuff, as well as Hostess Cupcakes, Twinkies, and other preservative-packed goodies, filed for bankruptcy protection last year. Interstate Bakeries has closed eight factories across the country and won't be selling Wonder Bread to Oregon and Washington starting next month.

The company blames low-carb diets and the new FDA requirements for labeling products which contain trans-fatty acids. In my opinion, the market for white bread is declining due to the wide availability of fresh-baked, artisan breads and the changing tastes (i.e., to "good") of the Pacific Northwest population. Despite my snooty foodieness, though, the slow extinction of Wonder Bread makes me a little sad.

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