LATEST NEWS
Mark Kind
Staff Writer
A weak economy, a glut of pie and a growing consumer boycott of carbohydrates finished off Tippin's Restaurant Inc., the company's CEO testified Friday, the morning after the restaurants closed their doors for good.
"I think, finally, the final straw was low-carb craze that didn't seem to abate; it seemed to
strengthen," CEO James Kerwin testified in an
emergency hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for in
Chief Judge Jerry Venters on
Friday approved the sale of the chain's pie factory in
Employees of the company's restaurants were less fortunate, however, as their jobs vanished.
"We closed our stores in about two minutes yesterday," Kerwin said in response to questioning from Thomas Franklin, a lawyer with the Franklin Law Firm representing creditor Sysco Food Services of Kansas City Inc.
Once covering several states, the Tippin's chain had four
restaurants in
The Overland Park-based chain filed for bankruptcy
But Kerwin said the economic rebound wasn't particularly evident in his business, and the company's cash shortage allowed little advertising to boost demand. Carbohyrate-rich pies and Gambucci's pastas remained unpopular with dieters.
Among the major creditors is Valley View Bank, which is owed $4.3 million by Tippin's, including $2 million on a line of credit that Tippin's had sought to increase by $400,000 earlier this month.
"They said they just really couldn't do that," Kerwin said.
Kerwin said the deal with Four B made sense because it preserves the value of the factory by allowing it to continue operating with an experienced staff.
"If you don't have the people with the knowledge and the skill, the value goes to practically nothing," Kerwin said.
The former Pillsbury executive had started other successful restaurant chains and knew the business well, he said. Aside from Four B, buyers for the pie factory would be tough to locate, he said, because too many companies have excess bakery capacity.
REACH MARK KIND at 816-421-5900 or mkind@bizjournals.com.