by: Christa Ferguson
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — BarFly Ventures, LLC, the parent company of HopCat, Stella’s Lounge and Grand Rapids Brewing Co. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring, but is vowing to reopen its bars and restaurants.
Founder Mark Sellers who owns BarFly Ventures, announced the plans Wednesday, saying its current debt is “untenable because of the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to other reasons.”
Sellers said the mandated closing of all restaurants to curb the spread of coronavirus led to a 100% drop in revenue for nearly three months.
In a message to patrons, Sellers wrote, “We had to fight to survive. We had to negotiate with a lot of our landlords and vendors. We had to deal with the bank. We were forced to lay off a lot of really good people to preserve cash. We got evicted from our Royal Oak location. We even had to file a Chapter 11 bankruptcy to restructure our debt… But we survived,”
He also said increased competition and “craft beer saturation” added to the company’s challenges before the pandemic, adding, “After an exhaustive examination of all options, we’ve determined that the Chapter 11 process is the best path forward to enable BarFly to focus on continued growth and transformation for the future."
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