Financial headwinds have compelled sure fried hen fast-food restaurant franchisees to file for chapter safety and shut places, regardless of the sector’s recognition.
Fried hen eating chains have been the preferred subsector of the fast-food business in 2025, as site visitors to hen ideas had risen 3% for the yr ending September 2025, whereas all ideas dropped 1% in comparison with the earlier yr, in line with market analysis agency Circana, as reported by Quick Firm.
A prime Popeyes franchisee, nonetheless, did not profit from the upper site visitors pattern and was compelled to file for chapter safety.
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Popeyes franchisee shuts extra places
Main Popeyes fried hen restaurant franchisee Sailormen Inc. has filed a movement to reject the unexpired leases of three extra closed eating places after already submitting to reject 17 closed places in Georgia and Florida.
Sailormen, which filed for Chapter 11 safety on Jan. 15, 2026, submitted a movement on March 10 to reject the unexpired leases of its Brunswick, Baxley, and Homerville, Ga., Popeyes places, which it has closed.
The corporate did not reveal the variety of layoffs because of the closings.
The debtor had already filed a movement within the U.S. Chapter Courtroom for the Southern District of Florida in Miami to reject 17 leases, after closing eight places on Jan. 19, 5 places on Jan. 20, and 4 places on Jan. 22, in line with courtroom papers.
Sailormen asserts that the leases ought to be rejected as of the petition date, because the eating places have been closed inside one week of the petition date and earlier than the listening to on the debtor’s first-day motions.
Closings may save $1 million a yr
The Miami, Fla.-based wholly owned subsidiary of Interfoods of America Inc. believes that closing the 20 unprofitable places will cut back the debtor’s promoting, normal, and administrative bills by over $1 million yearly, in line with courtroom papers.
The debtor is eradicating gear and different private property from the places to be reallocated or bought.
Franchisee seeks sale of property
Dealing with elevated stress from its landlords, distributors, and secured lender, Sailormen on March 13 filed a bidding and sale procedures movement with the chapter courtroom in search of a sale of its property by way of a Part 363 public sale.
Sailormen will search a stalking-horse bidder to submit a gap bid, with its secured creditor allowed to credit-bid the prepetition debt owed to it.
The debtor filed for Chapter 11 chapter as a consequence of vital challenges during the last yr stemming from adverse macroeconomic circumstances.
Debtor confronted financial challenges
Among the many financial challenges it has confronted are the lingering nationwide impression of the Covid-19 pandemic on its restaurant operations, client preferences, excessive inflation, rising rates of interest, and a restricted certified labor drive.
However fried hen fast-food eating places stay fashionable.
The number of hen choices provided, resembling hen items, hen fingers, or hen sandwiches, and the way shoppers take pleasure in their decisions, could contribute to the continued recognition of the idea, an professional stated.
“This is due to the experiences the brands are creating as well as the variety of chicken and how you can enjoy it,” business professional Reilly Newman of Motif Manufacturers informed The Meals Institute. “This involves no shock, because the expertise financial system has been taking root throughout the globe.
Sailormen filed for Chapter 11 safety after a failed sale of sure places, a default on credit score services, and a sequence of lawsuits and retailer closings precipitated the corporate monetary misery.
Sailormen, which was based in 1987 with 10 places, was one of many largest home Popeyes franchisees within the firm’s system, at one time working greater than 136 places in Florida and Georgia with about 2,900 employees.
Franchisee rejected lease places
- 628 W. Parker St., Baxley, Ga.
- 1817 Glynn Ave., Brunswick, Ga.
- 419 Church St., Homerville, Ga.
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