Burger King Franchisee Meridian Restaurants Shuts 27 Restaurants Post Bankruptcy

Founded in 2002, US based Meridian Restaurants, that filed for bankruptcy earlier in March and operate 116-unit is closing 27 restaurants.

As per reports, the locations are in Minnesota, Utah, Montana, Kansas, Nebraska and North Dakota.

Many of them are in small towns, such as Lewiston, Montana, a town of about 6,000 people 126 miles north of Billings, reported QSRWEB.COM.

The franchisee is also leaving open the possibility of more closures ahead, saying “it is possible, if not likely,” that further analysis suggests more closures are “appropriate.”

But the company in a filing said that it doesn’t anticipate closing “all or even a substantial portion of their restaurants,” it added.

Meridian and its advisers are negotiating rent concessions and operational improvements with landlords.

“It will be in the debtors’ best interest not to conduct store closings at most of its locations,” the company said in a filing.

The company initially sought court approval to close 23 restaurants on March 29 but last week added four more to the list.

Meridian operated 120 restaurants, most of which it acquired when they were struggling, believing they could be turned around.