BOSTON Eight Hooters restaurants were ordered to close after federal bankruptcy judge here forced a Massachusetts-based franchisee, R.J. Fritz L.P., into Chapter 7 liquidation, according to media reports quoting court records.
R.J. Fritz ran Hooters units in New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and all three Hooters in New Hampshire under a franchise agreement with Hooters of America Inc. In October, R.J. Fritz filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors, but U.S. Trustee Assistant John Fitzgerald late last month filed a motion to convert the case from a reorganization to Chapter 7, arguing that R.J. Fritz was not likely to be rehabilitated.
The company owed more than $100,000 to food vendor Agar Supply Co., and nearly $200,000 to Hooters of America, among other debts.