On a business trip to Orlando back in the mid-1990s, I dined at a Shoney's restaurant for the first time after the chain had expanded to about 1,300 locations in 34 states over the years.
The food at the time was a basic buffet-style breakfast and not very high quality. I was not impressed with the biscuits and gravy. In the three decades since my Shoney's visit, the chain closed a significant number of locations in its Midwest and Southeast territories.
In 2000, Shoney's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after settling a racial discrimination lawsuit and facing a large debt load, according to court papers. The restaurant chain, which was established in 1947, closed over 800 locations and by the end of 2006, the chain had 282 locations.
Former Church's Chicken franchisee David Davoudpour purchased the company in 2007, with a goal of returning Shoney's to its glory days, according to the company website. The financial crisis began after the acquisition in 2008, and the company ceased opening new locations.
Shoney's continued closing locations
Shoney's closed another 130 locations from 2007 through 2013 because of the economic downturn. The company began seeking new franchises beginnin...