Hooters, known for skimpy server outfits, files for bankruptcy protection

The Associated Press

· Posted: Apr 01, 2025 9:49 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Hooters, the U.S.-based edifice concatenation known for chickenhearted wings and skimpy wait-staff outfits for its "Hooters Girls," has filed for bankruptcy protection.

HOA Restaurant Group filed the question for Chapter 11 extortion Monday successful the North Texas Bankruptcy Court successful Dallas.   

The institution ran into fiscal woes arsenic its debts mounted, but it says it intends to enactment unfastened and resoluteness its troubles wrong months. A radical of the company's archetypal founders that owns astir a 3rd of Hooters' U.S. locations, including astir fractional of its biggest measurement restaurants, plans to bargain and run much of the outlets, Hooters said successful a quality release.

"Our renowned Hooters restaurants are present to enactment and we are taking enactment to fortify our concern to amended service our valued customers implicit the agelong term," the institution said successful a announcement connected its website.   

Hooters, based successful Atlanta, was founded successful Clearwater, Fla., in 1983. Trouble had been brewing for a while.   

Hooters had sponsored the No. 9 NASCAR car driven by Chase Elliott since 2017, but past year, Hendrick Motorsports ended its ties to the longtime sponsor due to the fact that it was not gathering its fiscal commitments.

Its concern strategy has faced challenges implicit the years, including lawsuits implicit its hiring of lone "Hooters Girls," an all-female serving unit dressed successful choky vessel tops and shorts.

Last year, it agreed to wage $250,000 US and supply different alleviation to settee a contention and colour favoritism suit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against a Hooters outlet successful Greensboro, N.C., aft employees accused the determination of deliberately failing to callback Black employees aft a COVID-motivated layoff.

In 2022, the edifice refuted claims it was shutting down and rebranding owed to changing lawsuit tastes.  

In 2019, the Hooters hotel-casino disconnected the Las Vegas Strip was sold to an Indian edifice institution and rebranded arsenic the OYO Hotel and Casino.

In 2017, the institution tried opening a edifice that didn't diagnostic hold unit successful choky tops, arsenic a trial of a antithetic attack to its archetypal concept.