Bye-bye Bennigans

I mentioned to my husband a few months ago while eating at a Bennigans on a Saturday night that the writing was on the wall for this place to fall by the wayside. It was a Saturday evening. (we were shopping at the Home Depot next door). In the past, there have been more than one-hour waits for a table (Olive Garden-type syndrome), but not this night. We got right in and saw about 6 other occupied tables. Shocking. Then my husband ordered steak and a baked potato.

"We don't do potatoes anymore," said the server, too expensive. He then listed the possible sides, which included loaded mashed potatoes. (We contemplated this reasoning and all I could come up with is that perhaps this allowed the restaurant more control over the toppings, as opposed to presenting cheese, butter, sour cream, bacon and sour cream in little dishes to everyone who orders a potato). This led to our meal discussion about early warning signs of a restuarant's demise. We recalled other places, for example, that opened with a memorable house salad and over time reverted to just the bland basics.

You can read more about Bennigan's in the openings/closings thread, but I wanted to comment on the following from today's Chicago Tribune:
"Bennigan's, owned by privately held Metromedia Restaurant Group, collapsed in a particularly dramatic fashion Tuesday. Managers of restaurants across the country were awakened by midnight phone calls telling them to shutter their stores immediately, according to interviews with several restaurant managers."

Why is it that companies have to close in such "dramatic fashion"?
I understand that companies are closing left and right. My husband's company shut its doors a few weeks ago with no warning, no communication meeting for the staff, no severance (and he had worked as an MIS Director there for 20 years). As middle-aged newlyweds, I'm old enough to know that we will get through this challening time and that there might even be a silver lining in the cloud currently floating above our heads.

I work as a recruiting manager and I spend the majority of my day talking to people looking for work or exploring their options as they worry about the future of their current companies. I've heard these types of stories from everyone from airline pilots to corporate executives. Is it wrong to expect a little humanity? How about a meeting with an explanation and a "thanks" or a "sorry, but here is the situation." This doesn't pay the bills, but I think a little low-cost communication would help a lot of people deal with the challenge (at any age) of finding a new job.

A final note, about a year ago, I enjoyed reading Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan. If you've ever worked at a restaurant, you might enjoy this little (140-page) story following a Red Lobster manager as "his" restaurant in Connecticut is closed. Not only will the book cool you off, it takes place during a snowstorm before Christmas, it explores the humanity of the employees left behind when businesses have to close their doors.

janeyb wrote:
"We don't do potatoes anymore," said the server, too expensive. He then listed the possible sides, which included loaded mashed potatoes. (We contemplated this reasoning and all I could come up with is that perhaps this allowed the restaurant more control over the toppings, as opposed to presenting cheese, butter, sour cream, bacon and sour cream in little dishes to everyone who orders a potato).

A much more likely explanation, in my opinion, is that the mashed potatoes come in mass-produced, frozen, service-ready bags. Unfortunately, that disgusting glop is indeed cheaper than real spuds. And less taxing on the non-existent culinary skills in the Bennigans kitchen.

Not a great loss for Chicago, and it will be interesting to see who opens up in their N. Michigan location across from the AI, perhaps the highest profile corner in the Midwest. (R. Melman, are you watching?)

janeyb wrote:"Bennigan's, owned by privately held Metromedia Restaurant Group, collapsed in a particularly dramatic fashion Tuesday. Managers of restaurants across the country were awakened by midnight phone calls telling them to shutter their stores immediately, according to interviews with several restaurant managers."

Why is it that companies have to close in such "dramatic fashion"?
I understand that companies are closing left and right. My husband's company shut its doors a few weeks ago with no warning, no communication meeting for the staff, no severance (and he had worked as an MIS Director there for 20 years). As middle-aged newlyweds, I'm old enough to know that we will get through this challening time and that there might even be a silver lining in the cloud currently floating above our heads.

I work as a recruiting manager and I spend the majority of my day talking to people looking for work or exploring their options as they worry about the future of their current companies. I've heard these types of stories from everyone from airline pilots to corporate executives. Is it wrong to expect a little humanity? How about a meeting with an explanation and a "thanks" or a "sorry, but here is the situation." This doesn't pay the bills, but I think a little low-cost communication would help a lot of people deal with the challenge (at any age) of finding a new job.

My two cents on this situation: Many businesses are trying to make ends meet and trying to stay afloat using every creative financing method available. Sometimes they are negotiating with creditors, sometimes their lenders call in debt, sometimes they are negotiating new financing arrangements, etc. Often, the close of a business happens "in a dramatic fashion" when all financing options fall through at the eleventh hour. Frankly, when a business is in this situation it would be foolish to communicate this to workers as the information would be leaked which would most likely seal the businesses' fate. I am not saying its pretty, but the reality is that most business owners try to keep it going until the bitter end and that is better for everybody. Sometimes they make it and sometimes they don't. Sometimes things just do happen "in a dramatic fashion."

Cinny's Mom wrote:My two cents on this situation: Many businesses are trying to make ends meet and trying to stay afloat using every creative financing method available. Sometimes they are negotiating with creditors, sometimes their lenders call in debt, sometimes they are negotiating new financing arrangements, etc. Often, the close of a business happens "in a dramatic fashion" when all financing options fall through at the eleventh hour. Frankly, when a business is in this situation it would be foolish to communicate this to workers as the information would be leaked which would most likely seal the businesses' fate. I am not saying its pretty, but the reality is that most business owners try to keep it going until the bitter end and that is better for everybody. Sometimes they make it and sometimes they don't. Sometimes things just do happen "in a dramatic fashion."

This is a correct analysis. A few additional things: first, the parent company was spending money on Bennigan's to help them meet payroll. Each day they stay open costs the firm more money. Once it is clear that the restaurants will not survive, it is best to shut down immediately. Second, the WSJ report mentions that the parent company had violated some of the terms of its lending agreement with creditors. Presumably this accelerated the closing.

We have been eating at Bennigan's a lot lately as they have been offering a lot of $4.99 lunch specials (entree AND drink) and $4.99 half pound burgers. The lunch options, unlike many of its competitors, actually offered some low-fat/reasonably healthy alternatives that were well-prepared. With the exception of the fried sandwich (the name escapes me), the food has always been pretty good. And there has been no drop-off in quality in recent months. Service has generally been decent even if some of the kitchen times were longer than normal.

Personally, I was surprised when I saw that the bankruptcy filing was Chapter 7 (liquidation) rather than chapter 11 (reorganization). Usually, most companies can find interim financing for a reorganization. However, in today's environment, it is very difficult to find a bank that is willing to lend under those circumstances as banks are having their own problems.

This isn't the first restaurant bankrupcy and closure nor will it be the last. My prediction for the next would be Old Country Buffet which has really downgraded their already mediocre menu.

Why is it that companies have to close in such "dramatic fashion"?
I understand that companies are closing left and right. My husband's company shut its doors a few weeks ago with no warning, no communication meeting for the staff, no severance (and he had worked as an MIS Director there for 20 years). As middle-aged newlyweds, I'm old enough to know that we will get through this challening time and that there might even be a silver lining in the cloud currently floating above our heads.

A little anecdotal evidence...

This reminds me of the end (thankfully!) of my wife's days as a server/waitress. She had gone from full time down to a weekend-only person, and one Saturday showed up bright and early at 5am to a dark, locked, closed restaurant.

The restaurant in question was privately owned, and was packed from open to close. There was no question of money, no corporate overlords dropping the hammer from afar. My wife was given no notice that she'd be up the proverbial creek for that thick weekend brunch rush cash we'd gotten used to.

A couple weeks later they reopened, new ownership (in the same family) and brought back a couple of the old servers but certainly not all. Sometimes people are just horrible owners, managers, and humans in general.

Hi,

On the radio this morning, they said only the corporate owned Bennigan's are closed. They said Bennigans franchises remain open. If this is true, then it has to hurt the operations that are still open. Everyone is likely driving past believing they are closed.

If this is true, are there any Bennigans open in this area?

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:If this is true, are there any Bennigans open in this area?

Regards,

When I was in Colorado around June 25th, I received an e-mail that Bennigans was extending their $4.99 Cash Crunch specials through Labor Day. On June 27th, I received an e-mail that the Crystal Lake location closed and directing me to Fox Lake.

I really doubt that there are any left in Chicago.

What is unusual is that the websites are all down ALREADY. Well, they were yesterday.
Most of the locations that closed last month are still on the list.

The one article I read said that the one on Rte. 31 and the tollroad in Elgin was open. It's ironic that we ate at the one in St. Charles on Sunday only because nothing else in the area sounded interesting. It was our first visit in 5 years. It didn't work out very well, they had no vegetarian options for my partner who wound up with the very greasy fish and chips. I must say my blue cheese burger was excellant and cooked exacyly as I like. We decided on Sunday that we wouldn't come back. Who knew?!

More info from Michael Hughlett's Tribune article will shed light on the Chicago area:

"Bennigan's shuttered its roughly 150 company-owned stores, though about 140 franchise outlets will remain open. The Chicago area, one of Bennigan's prime markets, will be hit hard because all but four of its 19 stores here are company-owned.

The closed stores are likely to stay that way: Bennigan's and sister chain Steak & Ale filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, meaning they plan to liquidate...

Metromedia Restaurant Group, which is owned by billionaire John Kluge, didn't respond to requests for comment.

Chicago is one of Bennigan's big markets, Briski said. In fact, the store at 225 N. Michigan Ave. has been the company's largest by sales volume, he said. But of the stores in the Chicago area, only one in Elgin and three in northwest Indiana are franchisee-owned."

The print edition of The Wall Street Journal noted that Vicorp Restaurants, Inc's Bakers Square and Village Inn and Buffets Inc.'s Old Country Buffet filed for bankruptcy this year but are trying to restructure and emerge from bankruptcy.

Metromedia has a separate restaurant company, Metromedia Steakhouses Co., which runs Ponderosa and Bonanza restaurants and is not included in the bankruptcy filing.

Of course, it figures that my parents *just* gave Science Boy a gift card for Bennegin's for his birthday about a week ago. It galls me that a business which has to at least have a hint they are going under can still sell gift cards which are then useless. We don't love Bennegin's, but were looking forward to a free dinner some night.

Cathy2 wrote:If this is true, are there any Bennigans open in this area?

Over in the Openings and closings thread, where several of us are lamenting the loss of the Monte Cristo sandwich, JoelF posted that the only still-open local Bennigan's were in Elgin and NW Indiana.