[ad_1]
The past few years have not been particularly good for the corner bakery-café chain. The brand, which was once seen as a worthy rival to Panera, saw sales plummet during the pandemic and has since struggled to regain its footing. Unfortunately, the gradual decline resulted in Corner Bakery filing for bankruptcy last week.
The number of chain stores also appears to have declined. It operated 175 units in the United States in 2019, according to Technomic, but data firm ScrapeHero reported that only 140 remained as of February 2023.
The Chapter 11 filing is an attempt to prevent creditors from taking control of the company. Court documents show SSCP Restaurant Investors acquired the chain’s $33.8 million secured debt and began taking steps to take over Corner Bakery, spurring the bankruptcy filing, according to catering company.
Corner Bakery denies that its debt is so high, instead saying the figure is between $20 million and $24 million. Whatever the chain owes, the protections requested by the company would allow it to continue operating while it develops a reorganization plan to hopefully pay off its debts and keep the business afloat.
The chain defaulted on its loans last year and said its ‘underperforming’ stores had weighed on the business, according to catering company.
In 2020, the company reportedly began making efforts to restructure its debt and is bringing in restructuring and financial advisers to explore strategic options.
Even before the pandemic, Corner Bakery was never able to achieve the same levels of popularity and success as its biggest competitor Panera Bread. Panera topped a list of the most profitable bakery-café chains in the United States in 2019, the year before the pandemic began, while Corner Bakery came in third behind Einstein Bros. Bagels, second.
Corner Bakery isn’t the only bakery-café chain that has struggled since the pandemic began. For example, Aurify Brands saved Le Pain Quotidien and Maison Kayse from bankruptcy by buying out the two brands in 2020. But with many workers and businesses transitioning to remote working, only time will tell if Corner Bakery can truly recover. .
Corner Bakery contacted for comment did not immediately respond.
Subscribe to our newsletter !
Zoe Strozewski
Zoe Strozewski is a staff writer for Eat This, Not That! A Chicago native who now lives in New Jersey, she graduated from Kean University in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Learn more about Zoe
[ad_2]
Source
