Marie Callender's files for Chapter 11

Restaurant owner Perkins & Marie Callender's Inc. on Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, brought down by tough competition, the weak economy and rising food costs.

The owner of the Perkins Restaurant & Bakery and the Marie Callender's chains said in the filing it plans to shutter 65 stores and cut 2,500 jobs, or about 20 percent of its work force of 12,350.

The company cited the weak economic climate, particularly in Florida and California, where many of its restaurants are located, for the bankruptcy filing.

Documents filed with the United States Bankruptcy Court in Delaware indicated the company could not afford to build new restaurants and upgrade existing ones, so it lost traffic to better funded restaurant competitors.  The company has 160 owned and 314 franchised.  Perkins restaurants and 85 owned and 37 franchised Marie Callender's.
 
Perkins, now owned by New York-based investment firm Castle Harlan Inc., was founded in 1958 and combined with Marie Callender's in 2006.

LAMediaWatch.com