Sbarro Pizza Prepares To File For Bankruptcy

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fast-food pizza chain Sbarro Inc may file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as soon as next week, the Wall Street Journal said Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

A bankruptcy would make the Melville, New York-based company the latest of a string of restaurant chains, including Fuddruckers and Charlie Brown's Steakhouse, to succumb to the economic downturn and a drop in consumer spending.

Struggling with debt, Sbarro had disclosed in January that it hired bankruptcy and restructuring advisers and lawyers.

Its lenders include Bank of America Corp and private equity owner MidOcean Partners, which purchased the company through a more than $400 million buyout in 2007.

Sbarrois in talks with hedge funds holding its senior debt to obtain $35 million of debtor-in-possession financing so it can keep operating while in bankruptcy, the Journal said. Talks remained fluid, and an agreement could still fall apart, it added.

A spokesman for Sbarro said the company continues to work on restructuring its debt and expects to operate normally during that process. (Reporting by Dena Aubin; editing by Carol Bishopric, Dave Zimmerman)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Comments

[hacksaw]

05:21 AM on 04/04/2011

The sad thing is sbarro’s in the mall did not represent the real sbarro’s in Brooklyn . I remember Mrs. sbarro feeding me rice balls and prosciutto balls they were delicious . I felt sorry for her workers she was a perfectionist

[Greatest Darthfruit]

02:35 AM on 04/04/2011

good, finally they will stop fattening people

[hindesky]

08:01 PM on 04/03/2011

Crappy mall food pizza, not hard to figure why they went belly up.

[JB1977]

07:31 PM on 04/03/2011

Damn! Now where will I get a sh*tty piece of $5 pizza?!!?!?!

[seanID22]

04:11 PM on 04/03/2011

You know up to two years ago...maybe still, this chain was bragging on its non-recycled napkins about how much water and trash it wasted. True story.

[the964kid]

03:49 PM on 04/03/2011

Maybe if they made an effort to make higher quality food this wouldn't have happened. Hopefully after they restructure their debt they will realize this.

[Goliadkin]

04:25 PM on 04/03/2011

Funny, isn't it, how these hard times provide a cover for companies that weren't doing a very good job to begin with?

[the964kid]

04:36 PM on 04/03/2011

Yes it is.

[StopThePlanet]

05:34 PM on 04/03/2011

You beat me to the punch.  They have some of the worst food I have ever tasted. It is a wonder how they've survived this long.

[the964kid]

01:52 AM on 04/04/2011

Seriously, they should've been put out of their pizza-making misery a long time ago.

[valentina 2]

03:36 PM on 04/03/2011

Any hole in the wall pizza joint has better pizza than this place. Though every now and then their deep dish spinach mushroom hits the spot.

[BigLeftbowski]

03:10 PM on 04/03/2011

Their food was always too expensive and insipid.

[Goliadkin]

04:28 PM on 04/03/2011

This is a very complicated case. You know, a lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what-have-yous.

[Al Vaught]

02:14 PM on 04/03/2011

Worst mall food I have had.

[Waiting for Something]

01:22 PM on 04/03/2011

People like good pizza, not this stuff.

[StopThePlanet]

05:35 PM on 04/03/2011

It is pretty difficult to make really bad pizza.  They have risen to the challenge. Maybe their recipe includes ground glass and raw sewage.

[ZDuck]

12:56 PM on 04/03/2011

Didn't even know it still was in business. Stop blaming the economy and look inside (if you have a bad product-you fail).

[Goliadkin]

04:28 PM on 04/03/2011

Giddyup.

[Totto]

12:50 PM on 04/03/2011

Their food is godawful. Bring back Howard Johnson's.

[BobABooey]

12:38 PM on 04/03/2011

Can't believe this sub-par shitehole made it this far, nasty from day one !

[chiropter]

12:24 PM on 04/03/2011

Executives cited "too many consonants in company name"

[Goliadkin]

04:33 PM on 04/03/2011

Yeah, once they dropped the "Salumeria" sobriquet they became vowel-challenged and their fate was sealed. Meanwhile look at Subaru. They are thriving with all the same consonants, but a better selection of vowels. It's all in the vowels, I tell ya, all in the vowels.

[noteaforme]

12:15 PM on 04/03/2011

It was pretty gross, though. And I love Italian food.

[Totto]

12:59 PM on 04/03/2011

That's NOT Italian! This IS Italian! http://www.fiorenzaristorante.com/chef.html

[Venicelady]

01:27 PM on 04/03/2011

With so many authentic and good Italian restaurants around ( especially in NYC), why would anyone eat at Sbarro's?

Still can't figure out the appeal of places like Papa John's, Domino's or Pizza Hut for some people.