Florida gourmet deli chain blames pandemic closures, notes $6.4 million PPP loan
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The parent of the Florida-based TooJay’s Gourmet Deli chain cited the impact of the coronavirus pandemic as the sole reason for its Tuesday Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing.
West Palm Beach, Fla.-based TooJay’s Management LLC, which has 30 restaurants in Florida, and its affiliates filed petitions in bankruptcy court for the Southern District of Florida, noting that the company had received a $6.4 million Paycheck Protection Program loan.
The company said it planned to use the loan “for payroll and other expenses allowed under the PPP, including future rent.”
The impact of state and city restrictions on restaurant dining rooms to stem the spread of the coronavirus led to the filing, TooJay’s said.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday said the state’s restaurants and retail stores would be allowed to reopen Monday at 25% capacity if local governments allowed it.
However, DeSantis excluded Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties — and area where TooJay’s has more than a half dozen restaurants — from beginning the phased reopening.
TooJay’s said its restaurants were profitable and the company had planned expansion “prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and the unprecedented closures of businesses required by local governments.”
The company added in its filing, however: “Since the pandemic, sales have reduced dramatically.”
TooJay’s said it had reduced expenses and the number of full-time employees from 1,114 to 280, but fixed operating cost made it “challenging” to achieve profitability.
The company reported assets ranging between $50 million and $100 million and liabilities ranging from $10 million to $50 million. TJ Acquisition LLC and individual locations were including in the bankruptcy filing.
TooJay’s was founded in 1981 in Palm Beach, Fla.
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