Eegee’s, a 53-year-old chain out of Tucson, Arizona, declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Friday after closing a handful of stores in the region.
The fast-food sandwich concept listed both assets and liabilities of between $10 million and $50 million and says that it has between 100 and 199 creditors.
Local reports said that the company had closed five locations this week, leaving the brand with 25 restaurants. All the chain’s restaurants are in Arizona and are company operated. The company generated $27.9 million in system sales last year, according to data from Restaurant Business sister company Technomic. That was down 4.8% from the year before.
The filing comes amid a difficult period in the restaurant business. More than 30 restaurant chains or large franchisees have sought bankruptcy protection this year, driven largely by high costs followed by weakening sales as consumers cut back on dining out.
Eegee’s is something of an institution around Tucson. The company was founded in 1971 and features a menu with sandwiches, salads, fries and frozen fruit drinks.
The company was sold to the private-equity firm 39 Point Capital and restaurant investor Kitchen Fund in 2018. In 2022 the company named a new CEO, Jason Vaughn, a former executive with Yum Brands, Wendy’s, Frisch’s and other brands. The chain more recently has named a new CEO in Chris Westcott.
Eegee’s had been signaling some challenges more recently, however. Most notably, the chain announced a trio of closures in September 2023, despite “coming off record summer sales,” suggesting that the locations were shuttered “because of their proximity to other locations.”
“While it’s never easy saying goodbye to a neighborhood, we identified these restaurants because of their proximity to other locations,” the company said on a post on the social media site X at the time. “The closures will allow us to invest more in our nearby stores and strengthens our ability to bring Eegee’s to more communities.”
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