Hooters, known for their lightweight server clothing, file for bankruptcy protection
The U.S.-based restaurant chain Hooters, known for chicken wings and light Wait-Staff clothing, has filed for bankruptcy protection.
HOA Restaurant Group filed a Chapter 11 protection motion in the North Texas Bankruptcy Court in Dallas on Monday.
The company is in financial trouble as debt dominates, but it says it intends to stay open and resolve issues within a few months. Hooters said in a press release that nearly one-third of the company’s original founders have U.S. locations, including about half of the largest number of restaurants, with plans to buy and operate more stores.
“Our famous Hooters restaurant will stay here and we are taking action to strengthen our business to provide better service to our valuable customers in the long run,” the company said in a notice on its website.
Atlanta-based Hooters was founded in 1983 in Clearwater, Florida. Trouble has been brewing for a while.
Hooters has sponsored Chase Elliott’s No. 9 NASCAR car since 2017, but last year, Hendrick Motorsports terminated its ties with its long-term sponsor because it failed to meet its financial commitments.
Over the years, its business strategy has faced challenges, including a lawsuit hiring only “Hooters Girls,” an all-female service worker wearing a tight vest and shorts.
Last year, it agreed to pay $250,000 to the U.S. and provide additional relief to resolve a racial and color discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEE Commission, on the Hooters channel in Greensboro, North Carolina after employees alleged that the location had intentionally failed to recall black employees.
In 2022, the restaurant refuted the claim that it is closing and renaming due to changes in customer tastes.
In 2019, the Hooters Hotel-Casino on the Las Vegas Strip was sold to an Indian hotel company and renamed it Oyo Hotel and Casino.
In 2017, the company tried another way to test its original concept.
