Ventura County Star:
When all four Ventura County Applebee’s restaurants closed in January 2009, the ax fell so quickly that bottles of A.1. Steak Sauce were left out on the tables in the rush to get the doors locked.
The suddenness was a sign of the economic times: faced with a recession-driven decline in the worth of his real estate holdings and in the number of diners spending money in his more than 110 restaurants, franchisee John D. Gantes of Orange County filed Chapter 11 petitions for some of his businesses. He then filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy for himself and his wife, according to an attorney for Gantes who spoke with the Orange County Register at the time.
Two years later, a survey of those former Applebee’s locations reveals a far sunnier situation — and one that also is in keeping with the times, say local economic forecasters.