The American restaurant chain Hooters, known for its chicken wings and revealing waitress outfits, has filed for bankruptcy.
HOA Restaurant Group filed for Chapter 11 protection Monday in North Texas Bankruptcy Court in Dallas.
The company has faced financial difficulties due to mounting debt, but says it intends to remain open and resolve its problems within a few months.
The group of original founders of the company, which owns nearly a third of Hooters restaurants in the U.S., including about half of the largest restaurants, plans to buy and operate more locations, Hooters said in a press release.
“Our iconic Hooters restaurants are here to stay, and we are taking steps to strengthen our business to better serve our valued customers for the long term,” the company said in a notice on its website.
Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Hooters was founded in Clearwater, Florida, in 1983. Problems had been brewing for some time.
Hooters had sponsored the No. 9 Nascar car driven by Chase Elliott since 2017, but Hendrick Motorsports ended its partnership with the longtime sponsor last year due to the company's failure to meet its financial obligations.
Over the years, the company's business strategy has faced challenges, including lawsuits over its reliance on “Hooters Girls” to serve customers.
Last year, the company agreed to pay $250,000 (£193,000) and provide other relief to settle a race and colour discrimination lawsuit brought by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against a Hooters restaurant in Greensboro, North Carolina.
In 2022, the restaurant rejected calls to close and rebrand due to changing customer tastes.
In 2019, the Hooters hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip was sold to an Indian hotel company and renamed OYO Hotel and Casino.
In 2017, the company tried opening a restaurant where waitresses didn't wear skimpy tops, as a test of a different approach to its original concept.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
