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The company behind the Logan’s Roadhouse and Old Chicago restaurant chains has reportedly fired thousands of workers as the coronavirus keeps its restaurants closed. CraftWorks Holdings — which filed for bankruptcy last month — axed almost all of its 18,000 employees this week after putting them on furlough in early March, the Wall Street Journal …
The company behind the Logan’s Roadhouse and Old Chicago restaurant chains has reportedly fired thousands of workers as the coronavirus keeps its restaurants closed.
CraftWorks Holdings — which filed for bankruptcy last month — axed almost all of its 18,000 employees this week after putting them on furlough in early March, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Tennessee-based company has also terminated its employee benefits plans, according to the paper.
“Please know that we continue to work diligently towards a reopening date and are looking forward to the day when we hope to bring many of you back with a new suite of benefits,” CraftWorks told employees in a Tuesday memo cited by the Journal.
CraftWorks acknowledged in a bankruptcy court filing last week that it had “laid off” nearly all of its 18,000 employees and shuttered its 261 restaurants in response to regulations several states have imposed to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
CraftWorks now plans to retain fewer than 25 employees and slash its expenses “to the bare minimum” with the goal of reopening previously profitable restaurants once the virus crisis subsides, it said in a Friday court filing. But the company admitted in a court hearing Monday that about half of its eateries may be closed for good, the WSJ reported.
“The letter sent to our employees yesterday speaks for itself,” CraftWorks chief experience officer Josh Kern told The Post in an email. “We are doing everything possible to reopen in the future once this national crisis passes. It breaks our hearts to be in this position.”
The pandemic has thrown a wrench into the bankruptcy plan laid out weeks ago by CraftWorks, which also owns the Gordon Biersch, Rock Bottom and ChopHouse restaurant brands.
The company announced a deal with its top lender to reduce its debt burden last month as it filed for bankruptcy protection and closed 37 underperforming restaurants. But its senior creditor declared CraftWorks in default and nixed its financing deal after the coronavirus kneecapped the company’s business, court records show.
