An American hamburger chain is the latest to consider restaurant closures and bankruptcy in the face of falling sales.
BurgerFi, which bills itself as an upscale McDonald’s, has called in experts to try to save the business, which is losing millions of dollars a month.
Bosses are considering Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which would allow it to break the leases on its worst-performing restaurants and sell their contents, as Red Lobster did last month.
Last year, BurgerFi closed 14 restaurants and in the first three months of the year it closed another eight, leaving it with 102.
Most are found in the east, primarily in Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, New York, and Indiana.
BurgerFi, which launched in 2011, is considering filing for bankruptcy, fearing restaurant closures.
This year there have been a series of setbacks for the company.
In January, the chain was delisted from the Nasdaq after its share price fell to such a point that it was below the $1 minimum the stock exchange insists on. On Monday it was 32 cents.
Then in April, BurgerFi defaulted on a loan, a sign that its financial problems were worse than it let on.
A month later, in an earnings update, it emerged that sales for the first three months of 2024 were down 13 percent from a year earlier. Losses exceeded $6 million in the quarter.
Sales also fell by double digits in the final quarter of 2023.
The company also owns 60 Athony’s pizzerias, which are also in trouble.
Announcement of ‘strategic review’ on ThursdayDavid Heidecorn, the company’s new president, said: “We are committed to considering all possible strategic alternatives.”
But he admitted the network’s lack of money in the bank was a challenge.
As a result, the review may lead to an “unfavorable outcome.”
On its website, BurgerFi says: ‘We don’t just serve great burgers. Since 2011, we’ve been serving premium burgers made with fresh ingredients from top suppliers across the country with an uncompromising standard of taste and quality in everything we do.”
DailyMail.com contacted BurgerFi on Monday. A spokesperson said they would not make any further statement.
BurgerFi has closed eight restaurants so far in 2024 and has financial problems
BurgerFi also operates 60 restaurants under the Anthony’s pizza brand.
In recent months, there have been a series of bankruptcies that have added to the closures of restaurants and stores.
Red Lobster closed nearly 100 and filed for bankruptcy in May.
National luxury coffee and grocery chain Foxtrot said in early April it was closing all of its stores with immediate effect, leaving staff and customers stunned.
Foxtrot, which was established in 2014 in Chicago, had 33 locations in the Chicago, Austin, Dallas and Washington DC areas.
Meanwhile, retailer Express, a mall staple, filed for bankruptcy in April and said it would close 95 stores.