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National burger chain sparks concerns of mass closures across US after revealing they're considering bankruptcy
A US burger chain is the latest to weigh up restaurant closures and bankruptcy as sales plummet.
BurgerFi - which touts itself as an upmarket McDonald’s - has called in experts to try to save the business, which is losing millions of dollars a month.
Bosses are looking at Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which would allow it to get out of leases for its worst performing restaurants and sell off the contents - as Red Lobster did last month.
Last year, BurgerFi shuttered 14 restaurants and in the first three months of the year it has closed another eight - leaving it with 102.
Most are on the east, with the most in Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, New York and Indiana.
BurgerFi, which launched in 2011, is considering bankruptcy - with fears of restaurant closures
There have been a series of setbacks for the company this year.
In January, the chain was delisted from the Nasdaq after its tumbling share price fell so far that it was below the $1 minimum that the stock exchange insists on. On Monday, it was 32 cents.
Then in April, BurgerFi defaulted on a loan - a sign that its financial woes were worse than it was letting on..
A month later at an earnings update, it emerged sales for the first three months of 2024 were down 13 per cent on the year before. Losses were more than $6 million for the quarter.
Sales had also fallen by double figures in the final quarter of 2023.
The company also owns 60 Athony’s pizza restaurants which are also in trouble.
Announcing the ‘strategic review’ on Thursday, David Heidecorn, the company’s new chairman, said: "We are committed to considering all potential strategic alternatives.’
But he admitted the chain’s lack of money in the bank was a challenge.
As a result, the review may lead to an ‘outcome that is not favorable’.
On its website, BurgerFi says: ‘We don't just serve great burgers. Since 2011, we've been serving next-level burgers made with fresh ingredients from the top suppliers across the country with an uncompromising standard for flavor and quality in everything we do.'
DailyMail.com contacted BurgerFi on Monday. A spokesperson said they were not making any additional statements.
BurgerFi has shut eight restaurants so far in 2024 and has financial problems
BurgerFi also runs 60 restaurants under the Anthony's pizza brand
In recent months, there has been a spate of bankruptcies adding to restaurant and store closures.
Red Lobster has shut almost 100 and filed for bankruptcy in May.
National coffee and upmarket grocery chain Foxtrot said at the start of April it will shut all its stores with immediate effect - leaving staff and customers stunned.
Foxtrot, which was established in 2014 in Chicago, had 33 locations across the Chicago, Austin, Dallas and Washington DC areas.
Meanwhile, retailer Express - a mall staple - filed for bankruptcy in April and said it would shut 95 outlets.