Mr. Gatti’s Pizza Files for Bankruptcy [Updated]
Update: According to a statement from Nick Moore, COO and president of Foodservice Management Systems and spokesman for the West Texas Mr. Gatti's Pizza locations, Mr. Gatti's Pizza restaurants in the West Texas area are "thriving."
"The filing will have no impact on the restaurants. It's strictly a corporate matter needed to make the brand even stronger for the future. Only three out of more than 70 restaurants are corporately owned. The west Texas locations are all franchised and are thriving. We look forward to serving these communities for a very long time," said Moore.
[Original story] Well, this doesn't seem like good news for pizza lovers.
Austin-based Mr. Gatti's has filed for bankruptcy according to federal court records. They are anywhere from $10 to 50 million dollars in debt, and that's not a good thing.
Here's a statement on the filing from NewsWest 9:
This is necessary to address the capital structure and primary banking relationship, and is not a result of the health of the brand’s operations. This filing will have no impact on operations at the store level. Customers will not see any changes in service or the quality of our products
In addition, this filing will have no impact on our level of support we provide to each of our franchisees. The company will continue to pay suppliers, vendors and employees.
I reached out to management of the Lubbock, Midland, and Odessa Mr. Gatti's restaurants, and have received no comment back at the time of publishing this story. If they reach out, this story will be updated.
So, it looks like it is business as usual for now.