WARWICK – The Hooters restaurant on Airport Road closed its doors this weekend, perhaps for good.
The restaurant is one of 12 Hooters in New England and upstate New York that had been operated by R.J. Fitz LP, under franchises with Atlanta-based Hooters of America Inc.
R.J. Fitz – a consortium of investors that included Warwick Group Inc. and Boston-based New England Wings Inc. – had filed for Chapter 11 protection in October. Four locations in upstate New York were shuttered shortly thereafter.
Its initial bankruptcy filing listed $1.2 million in assets and $5.9 in debts, Bloomberg News said.
But on Wednesday, the company’s reorganization was converted to a liquidation by Judge Joan Feeney of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Massachusetts, who ordered R.J. Fitz and its fellow debtors into Chapter 7. Feeney named Boston lawyer John Aquino of Anderson Aquino LLP to serve as interim trustee. He will preside at a meeting of R.J. Fitz’s creditors and, unless he declines the position or another trustee is elected, will go on to oversee the company’s liquidation.
The restaurants’ closure may have been sped by a request Friday to terminate their workers’ compensation coverage. An affidavit filed by First Insurance Funding Corp. cites a premium of $24,608.97, due May 26, that the insurer said remained unpaid.
The telephone at the Warwick restaurant went unanswered this morning, and lawyers for the debtors did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The case is “In re: R.J. Fitz LP, 06-13542, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Massachusetts (Boston).” Additional information is available at www.mab.uscourts.gov and www.jagersmith.com/bankruptcy.html.
