Tampa Tribune:
The days may be numbered for “scattered, covered and smothered” hash browns at Waffle House. The iconic roadside grill’s biggest franchisee has filed for bankruptcy protection.
Northlake Foods Inc. of Brandon, which operates 146 Waffle Houses in Florida, Georgia and Virginia, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in mid-September. Chapter 11 allows a company to reorganize its finances while protected from its creditors.
According to the bankruptcy filing, 90 of Northlake Foods’ Waffle House locations are in Florida, but it wasn’t immediately clear whether it operates any local restaurants.
The company filed for bankruptcy because Waffle House Inc. of Norcross, Ga., was threatening to terminate the franchise agreement that gives it the right to operate the restaurants, the bankruptcy filing says.
Northlake has other problems, too, according to the filing. The company is short of cash, has suffered from declining sales and has seen its costs rise because of increases in the minimum wage.
It lists assets of $10 million to $50 million and liabilities in the same range. Read more.