Fast food is one of life's greatest luxuries. Quite cheap, quite delicious - what's not to like? But now, as tastes across the U.S. change, certain fast food places are starting to wane. One such chain is Hardee's. As reported by the New York Post, one of the main franchisees of the chain is liquidating all its assets.
This is pretty bad news for Hardee's fans nationwide. ARC Burger, LLC filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The franchisee owns 77 locations in nine states, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Ilinois, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina, and Wyoming. The proceeds from this liquidation are going to the creditors of ARC Burger.
And things aren't even looking good for Hardee's, either. The collapse was because of a dispute between the two parties. A months-long legal battle ensued between Hardee's and ARC, where they alleged the franchisee had racked up almost $7 million in unpaid fees and royalties.
But that's not the end of ARC's lack of payments. According to People, ARC has over $29 million in liabilities, and owes money to over 5,000 creditors.
Hardee's even filed a lawsuit against ARC. They said in the complaint that they wanted to work with them on "payment defaults, including by attempting to reach agreement with ARC on a payment plan for past-due amounts."
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Hardee's Is Looking To Re-Open the Closed Restaurants
But, it isn't all bad for Hardee's. Although the issue with ARC is a pretty big blow to their operations, things are looking up for them.
They're looking to re-open restaurants in several of ARC's previous franchised areas. As reported by MSN, they've already started on a few.
Hardee's has managed to restart operations at a few of their locations. In a statement, they said, "We are pleased to have recently reopened 15 locations in the Georgia, Missouri, and South Carolina markets as Hardee's corporate restaurants."
Hardee's corporate office has labelled the freshly re-opened stores in job listings as explicitly "corporate-owned". They even marked job postings for the locations as urgent. Good on them for wanting to get back to normal as quick as possible!
