Brigham’s is melting away
Restaurant chain nears bankruptcy
By Thomas Grillo | Thursday, November 19, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
After serving sweet treats for nearly 100 years, Brigham’s is facing bankruptcy.
Luke Cooper, managing director of New England Food Service, a division of Deal Metrics, which owns the Brigham’s restaurant chain, told the Herald that he expects to file for bankruptcy protection by week’s end.
“We hope to emerge from this decision and re-employ many of our 200 employees at a newly run, well-oiled machine that will be the new Brigham’s,” he said. “We hope to keep eight of the most profitable locations.”
Last year, Arlington-based Brigham’s sold the ice cream product lines to HP Hood LLC while the restaurants were scooped up by Baltimore-based Deal Metrics.
News of the bankruptcy comes one week after the 27-store chain closed its High Street shop after decades in the Boston’s Financial District.
Cooper blamed the impending bankruptcy on several factors, including the fact that sales were off by 5 percent amid a sagging economy. He said rising gasoline and dairy prices last year dramatically reduced profit margins and lease deals could not be re-negotiated.
“Before we bought it, the restaurants could lose money and make it back on ice cream sales in supermarkets,” he said. “But when we bought Brigham’s, the company was divided in two.”
Donna Weafer, a store manager who has been with Brigham’s for over 30 years, said she can’t believe the company was not profitable.
“They stopped paying rent at all of the locations a long time ago - how can they not be making money?” said Weafer, who works at the South Shore Plaza Brigham’s. “Our phone lines were cut for nonpayment. The story doesn’t make sense.”
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1213001
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