Hooters has closed more than 30 additional locations nationwide as the chain works through bankruptcy and heads toward new ownership.
USA Today confirmed closures across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.
Current franchisees Hooters Inc. and Hoot Owl Restaurants LLC still plan to buy all of the company-owned stores (more than 100). There should be roughly 200 U.S. and 60 international Hooters units remaining when the transaction closes in August 2025, representing $700 million in systemwide sales.
The purchasing group will operate approximately 130 locations, or about 65 percent of the domestic footprint. The rest will continue to be overseen by other franchisees, making Hooters a 100 percent franchised footprint.
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Hooters had over 430 outlets worldwide in 2019 when it was bought by Nord Bay Capital and TriArtisan Capital Advisors. That means approximately 170 restaurants will have shuttered by the time the transaction closes in a couple of months.
Hooters Inc. and Hoot Owl Restaurants said the recent store closures were expected before the purchase is finalized.
“We are confident that the acquisition will be finalized later this summer and we are excited to move forward into the next chapter of the Hooters brand. Decisions about store closures are never easy to make but all parties are completely aligned in bringing the necessary resources required to make the remaining 200 domestic Hooters locations as successful as possible. The Buyer Group has been extremely impressed with the restaurant-level employees of the restaurants they are acquiring and are excited to welcome them into the Hooters Inc. and Attila Wings organizations,” Neil Kiefer, CEO of Hooters Inc., said in a statement.
The buying group includes the original Hooters founders, who operate 14 of the 30-highest volume restaurants and last year earned average restaurant revenue that was over double that of company-owned stores.
As part of the transaction, Hooters Brand Management, owned by the buyer group, will provide franchise support functions, including oversight of the national ad fund, the central purchasing organization, franchise development and support, and other key functions.
Hooters Inc. and Hoot Owl Restaurants plan to return to “the core principles that initially drove its success, including some of its original recipes and original Hooters Girls uniforms,” the franchisees said in a news release. The companies also plan to invest “significant resources” into the other stores to bring them up to the standards of the buying group’s current fleet.
Hooters officially declared bankruptcy at the end of March. The company listed approximately $376 million in funded debt and cited inflationary pressures, rising labor and food costs, and a burdensome capital structure as major factors driving the decision to seek court protection.
