After a summer of iconic restaurants filing for bankruptcy with their futures unknown, one deli chain is breaking the mold. It is reopening after filing and has a brand new owner. TooJay's Deli, a Florida-based chain, is open and running again while following COVID-19 safety guidelines.In 2019 profits were going up, the CEO, Maxwell Piet, says in a statement. But the coronavirus pandemic hurt sales and was the driving factor of the April Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.TooJay's brand new owner, Monroe Capital Management Advisors LLC, took over the restaurant chain from TooJay's Management LLC. It wasn't the first to try and buy the restaurant, though. Boston Market Holdings Corp., which owns the Boston Market rotisserie chicken brand, was denied, according to Nation's Restaurant News. Interestingly, Monroe Capital also supported TooJay's back in 2018. (Related: 15 Classic American Desserts That Deserve a Comeback.)"The restructuring process allowed the company to emerge debt free, which it believes will provide significant financial flexibility to support its operations," the deli says in a statement. "The company's new owner, Monroe Capital, is providing capital to support growth in the business going forward."Although some leases were severed after the bankruptcy filing, 21 of the locations are back open for business. These are serving up all the TooJay's Deli favorites like the Nova Salmon Benedict and the Avocado Breakfast BLT for breakfast, the Triple J, Reuben and Rachel sandwich for lunch or dinner, and the Cheese Blintzes and Rugalach for dessert.Prior to this year, there used to be around 30 locations. When restructuring after filing for bankruptcy, it isn't uncommon for some leases to be dropped. Matchbox, a Washington D.C. pizza and burger chain, is renegotiating their leases after declaring bankruptcy in August. Ruby Tuesday announced they are closing 150 locations for good and are evaluating other leases. beloved sandwich chain Potbelly also is negotiating leases after they announced in June that 100 out of 470 locations would be closing.STAY INFORMED: Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest restaurant news delivered straight to your inbox.
