Back Yard Burgers declares bankruptcy for second timeBack Yard Burgers declares bankruptcy for second time

Joanna Fantozzi

Back Yard Burgers — the Nashville-based 34-unit fast-casual burger chain —filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 in the Western District Bankruptcy Court of North Carolina on June 26 under the name Tantum Companies LLC.

This is the second time Back Yard Burgers has filed for bankruptcy: in 2012, the company filed for Chapter 11 and appeared to have turned itself around after the company was bought by Axum Capital Partners when it emerged from bankruptcy. This is the second bankruptcy this summer for Axum Capital Partners — cofounded by former Carolina Panthers NFL player Muhsin Muhammad — as Axum-owned Wild Wing Café filed for bankruptcy protection on July 19 for pandemic-related challenges. Both Wild Wing Café and Back Yard Burgers are run by CEO Mark Cote.

According to the filing, Tantum Companies has between $1-$10 million in assets and $10-$50 million in debts and liabilities. This year, Back Yard Burgers has closed several restaurants as the company has attempted to restructure.

"During the pandemic, any chance of dealing with operational issues in the normal course was unprecedented and disruptive to the company’s guests and employees,” CEO Mark Cote said in the June filing. “Operational control and management effectiveness was disrupted and exposed the company to weaknesses that were not previously identifiable, and the consequences impacted the financial stability and the potential for financial recovery – which ultimately necessitated the filing of these Chapter 11 Cases.”

Related:Wild Wing Café files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

In 2017 when Axum Capital first bought Back Yard Burgers, the company had 55 restaurants, and that has since dwindled down to 34 units (after closing nine units over the past year, according to the latest top 500 data from NRN in partnership with Datassential). Once upon a time, Back Yard Burgers had 200 restaurants but has been left behind the explosion of the fast-casual burger movement and rise of other brands like Shake Shack.

Contact Joanna Fantozzi at [email protected]