More stores closed after a major Popeye’s franchisee filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.
Sailormen Inc., which manages 136 Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen stores in Georgia and Florida, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January. More than a dozen of the company’s restaurants closed after the document was released. However, the franchise closed three locations before filing for bankruptcy, although those closures were only disclosed in a recent filing, Newsweek reported.
In a March 10 filing, Sailormen Inc. sought to reject unexpired leases at the chicken chain’s shuttered stores, which are all in Georgia.
The three closings will “reduce the debtor’s selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A),” court documents said. [selling, general and administrative] Expenditures at the restaurant level exceed $1 million annually. ” the report stated.
independent Popeye’s has been contacted for comment.
Sailormen Inc. cited inflation, the COVID-19 pandemic and an “increasingly limited qualified workforce” in bankruptcy-related court documents filed in the Southern District of Florida.
Sailormen Inc. was founded in 1984 and at one time operated stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri and Mississippi, according to court documents.
However, many of its stores were sold between 2012 and 2018. The franchisee also tried to sell 16 locations in 2023, but that deal fell through.
The “vast majority” of restaurants operated by Sailormen Inc. will likely remain open, Peter Perdue, president of Popeye’s U.S. and Canada, said in January. Catering industry.
“Sailormen has been a successful, growth-oriented franchise organization in our system for many years. Most of their restaurants are very profitable and in line with our system’s average (some are above average),” he said.
The news follows the closures of several other fast-food chains, including drive-thru chain Salad and Go, which closed its remaining 25 locations in Texas and 11 locations in Oklahoma.
Colorado-based Noodles & Company recently announced it expects to close as many as 35 restaurants by 2026, after closing 33 restaurants in 2025.
Last year, burger chain Jack in the Box also closed dozens of underperforming restaurants across the United States.
