UPDATE – Owner Of Local Perkins Says His Restaurants To Stay Open

ST. CLOUD - The owner of the four Perkin's Restaurants in the St. Cloud Metro area says his restaurants are all staying open, and are not affected by an announcement made today (Monday) by the corporate office.

The corporate office is seeking chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Dave Hanson owns both the St. Cloud restaurants, as well as the ones in Sartell and Sauk Rapids. He says they have just a franchise agreement.

Hanson says any restaurants that do close because of today's announcement would all be owned by the corporate office.

Restaurant owner Perkins & Marie Callender's is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The owner of Perkins Restaurant & Bakery and Marie Callender's chains cited the weak economic climate, particularly in Florida and California, where many of its restaurants are located.

Documents filed Monday with the United States Bankruptcy Court in Delaware indicated the company could not afford to build new restaurants and upgrade existing ones, so it lost traffic to better funded restaurant competitors.

The Memphis, Tenn., company says it had assets of about $290 million and liabilities of $440.8 million. Top creditors include The Bank of New York Mellon Trust and law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

The company has 160 owned and 314 franchised Perkins restaurants and 85 owned and 37 franchised Marie Callender's.