Sailormen Inc., which operated a Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen in Keystone Heights and 135 other restaurants across Florida and Georgia, submitted its bankruptcy petition on January 15 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida. The filing puts the jobs of more than 3,200 hourly employees in limbo as the Miami-based company seeks to restructure its operations.
Court documents cite persistent inflation that drove up operating costs, lingering effects from the COVID-19 pandemic that permanently altered consumer dining habits, and an increasingly challenging labor market that made staffing difficult and expensive.
In response to changing dining habits created by the pandemic, the Keystone Heights Popeyes was built with a dining area half the size of the Starke location. According to one analyst, drive-through traffic at fast food outlets increased by 30% in the three years following the pandemic, while inside dining fell by 47%.
“The confluence of these economic headwinds created an unsustainable financial situation,” according to the bankruptcy filing, which details how declining customer traffic combined with rising expenses created a cash flow crisis the company couldn’t overcome.
According to media reports, Sailormen’s troubles intensified following a botched asset sale that left the franchisee in an even more precarious position. In late 2023, the company attempted to offload 16 of its Georgia locations to Tar Heels Spice in a deal aimed at generating much-needed capital and reducing its footprint.
However, that transaction never reached completion. By April 2024, Sailormen had stopped paying rent on those 16 locations and subsequently filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against the would-be buyer. The company remained legally responsible for the restaurant leases, adding to its mounting financial obligations.
The situation reached a critical point in December, when BMO Bank, Sailormen’s primary lender, filed suit against the franchisee and sought a court-appointed receiver to take control of the company’s assets.
Founded in 1984 specifically to operate Popeyes restaurants, Sailormen was purchased in July 1987 by businessmen Bob Berg and Steve Wemple, when it operated just 11 Miami-area locations.
The company experienced aggressive expansion during the 1990s and early 2000s, establishing operations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, and Mississippi. However, between 2012 and 2018, management made a strategic decision to consolidate, selling off operations in Alabama, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, and Mississippi to focus exclusively on development in the Florida and Georgia markets.
