Old Chicago parent company declares bankruptcy

NASHVILLE — CraftWorks Holdings LLC, parent company to the Boulder-born Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom restaurant chain, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. 

CraftWorks lists assets between $100 million and $500 million and liabilities within that same range. The firm has between 1,000 and 5,000 creditors, according to court documents.  

On Tuesday, the firm announced a credit and asset purchase agreement with investor Fortress Credit Co. LLC that reduces CraftWorks debt by $140 million, or about 60 percent. 

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“Over the past 16 months, we have made significant progress on many fronts to transform our business and position our brands for long-term growth and success,” CrafWorks CEO Hazem Ouf said in a prepared statement. “Our team has enhanced the guest dining experience through the addition of new and higher-quality menu offerings and an improved guest service platform, and we have made good strides in increasing operational efficiency across our organization.”

Ouf added: “These and other efforts are translating into stronger sales trends, with our first quarter off to a solid start for all of our divisions. As a further step forward in our transformation, we exited in recent weeks a select group of our locations that were our poorest performers. We are now looking forward to completing an expedited process that we are confident puts our business on solid financial footing for the future.”

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP is serving as legal counsel, Configure Partners LLC is serving as investment banker, and M-III Partners LP is serving as financial advisor.

According to a letter to customers from CraftWorks chief experience officer Josh Kern, gift cards and loyalty program points will still be honored. Kern did not respond to a BizWest request for additional information.

The bankruptcy filing comes during the same week that the Longmont Old Chicago closed up shop.

The restaurant at 1805 Industrial Circle joins the list of local Old Chicago locations to shutter that includes shops in Boulder and Fort Collins.The chain, founded by Frank Day and eventually sold to Nashville-based CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries Group Inc., closed its flagship location in Boulder in December 2016 and the Old Town Fort Collins shop two years later. Local locations in Broomfield, Westminster, Loveland, Greeley and Fort Collins remained open Tuesday.

The Longmont closure occurred very soon after the recent shutdown of Old Chicago locations in Boise, Idaho; near Dallas; and in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

“This location is closed. Please visit us in Thornton, Westminster and Loveland. Sorry! We love Longmont,” read a handwritten sign in the Longmont Old Chicago’s entrance window Tuesday.  

The writing may have been on the wall for a closure at the Longmont Old Chicago as early as last October, when unspecified “managerial transitions” caused the restaurant to stop hosting a Thanksgiving meal with community-assistance organization OUR Center, an annual tradition that began a dozen years ago, according to a Longmont Times Call report. 

In addition to Old Chicago, CraftWorks owns and operates chains including A1A Ale Works Restaurant & Taproom, Big Bang at Sing Sing, Big River Grille & Brewing Works, Chophouse & Brewery, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant, Logan’s Roadhouse, Ragtime Tavern, Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery, and Seven Bridges Grille & Brewery.

The Gordon Biersch location in Broomfield was open Tuesday, as were the Rock Bottom restaurants in Loveland and at Westminster Promenade. A separate Rock Bottom location at Westminster Orchard closed this week.  

In total, CraftWorks plans to close 37 of its 338 restaurants. Court documents have yet to detail which locations are included in that 37.

“Our goal is for CraftWorks Holdings to emerge with a strengthened balance sheet and a further optimized real estate portfolio that will allow us to execute on our growth strategy, compete more effectively in the casual dining environment in areas in which we have a proven track record of success, and continue to invest in enhancing the dining experience for our millions of raving fans nationwide, whom we look forward to serving for many years to come,” Ouf’s statement said. 

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