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The bankrupt company behind the Logan’s Roadhouse and Old Chicago restaurant chains has fired most of its 18,000 employees, adding to the swelling ranks of unemployed in the U.S. as the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic continues, the Wall Street Journal reported. CraftWorks Holdings Inc., which had planned to sell itself out of bankruptcy before the pandemic’s crushing impact on consumer activity, fired the bulk of its workforce yesterday and terminated employee-benefit plans. Employees have been furloughed since early March, when the casual-dining company idled its restaurants and brewpubs amid widespread restrictions on social gatherings. The Nashville-based CraftWorks, which private-equity firm Centerbridge Partners LP created after rolling up a number of other eateries. Consumer-facing companies such as restaurants, retailers and movie theaters are broadly ratcheting down their operations in response to government guidelines on social distancing, cutting employees’ hours and resorting to furloughs and layoffs to control costs. CraftWorks entered bankruptcy with 338 restaurant locations under brands including Logan’s Roadhouse, Old Chicago Restaurants, Gordon Biersch, Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery, Big River Grille & Brewing Works, The ChopHouse and A1A Ale Works. The company also owns Ragtime Tavern, Seven Bridges Grille and Brewery and the Big Bang at Sing Sing.

Dean & Deluca Inc., the pioneering gourmet grocer that was already struggling to survive, filed for chapter 11 protection from creditors as the coronavirus brought New York City shoppers to a virtual standstill, Bloomberg News reported. The company listed liabilities of as much as $500 million and assets of no more than $50 million in a bankruptcy petition filed in Manhattan. Its owner, Thailand’s Pace Development Corp., defaulted on a total of 9.5 billion baht (about $315 million) of debt last year. The case is Dean & DeLuca Inc. and Dean & DeLuca New York Inc., 20-10917, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

Macy’s and Gap said yesterday that they planned to furlough much of their work forces, a stark sign of how devastating the coronavirus will be for major retailers and their workers who sell clothing, accessories and other discretionary goods, the New York Times reported. Macy’s, which said the cuts would affect the “majority” of its 125,000 workers, lost most of its sales after the pandemic forced it to close stores. Gap, which also owns Old Navy and Banana Republic, said it would furlough nearly 80,000 store employees in the United States and Canada. The announcements followed similar actions by other name-brand chains with products considered nonessential. When a national emergency was declared earlier this month, a number of retailers announced stores would close but vowed to keep offering pay and benefits to employees for at least two weeks. As the odds of reopening stores quickly became increasingly unlikely, many extended workers’ pay into April. But now, it appears the money is drying up. A large part of the retail industry that is not involved in selling groceries, toilet paper or disinfectant simply has very little cash coming in. L Brands, which owns Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works, said it would furlough most store staff and “those who are not currently working to support the online businesses or who cannot work from home” starting April 5. Nordstrom said last week that it would furlough “a portion of corporate employees” on April 5 for six weeks. Buzzy start-ups are also under pressure: Rent the Runway laid off its retail employees through a call via Zoom on Friday, while Everlane laid off or furloughed nearly 300 of its workers.

Warren, Mich.-based Art Van Furniture Inc. halted store sales on March 19 and expedited a mass layoff as coronavirus began to grip the region, but it might not be the end for the Art Van brand after all, Crain's Detroit Business reported. Gary Van Elslander on Wednesday submitted a bid to buy the Art Van brand name and trademark. The bottom fell out swiftly for Art Van Furniture Inc. earlier this month. It filed for chapter 11 protection on March 9 and announced its liquidation would last around two months. Operations across all its stores ended abruptly 10 days later as the coronavirus outbreak took hold of the region. Art Van Furniture was acquired in 2017 by Boston-based private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners LP for an estimated $550 million. The Art Van trademark is owned by its creditors Hilco Merchant Resources LLC, based in Illinois, and FS KKR Capital Corp., based in Pennsylvania. Any purchase would need to go through the bankruptcy approval process, expected to wrap up around the end of April. Van Elslander's bid was for less than $1 million. The exact amount was not disclosed but will eventually be made public as part of the bankruptcy proceeding records.

The shutdown of movie theaters world-wide due to the coronavirus pandemic has put cinema owners at heightened risk of default if they are unable to reopen in several months or secure a financial lifeline, the WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Securities linked to AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., the global market leader with over 1,000 cinemas, have tumbled in value to distressed levels after the company temporarily closed all of its theaters. Independent cinema owners are also staring down looming payments to creditors and landlords. “It means that for big companies and small, they’re all going to face a substantial liquidity crunch in the next three months,” said John Fithian, the president of the National Association of Theatre Owners, the cinema industry’s main lobbying group. The movie theater business last year generated roughly $52 billion in global revenues, including sales of tickets, food and beverages, about $15 billion of which was in the U.S, Fithian said. The rise in Covid-19 cases nationally has choked off revenues to the theater industry as more cities and states follow the example of New York City in closing movie theaters to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. “We went from those kinds of revenues to zero overnight,” he said. “And we still have substantial fixed costs.”

Retailers are suspending and canceling clothing orders, threatening millions of factory jobs in Asia just as China shows signs of recovering from the worst of the coronavirus outbreak, the Wall Street Journal reported. Among the first to be hit by the consumer shutdown in the West are suppliers to the world’s “fast-fashion” giants, like H&M owner Hennes & Mauritz AB. Their business models depend on being able to get orders from factory floors to retail outlets in a matter of weeks. They are now pausing or canceling factory orders, boding ill for Asian manufacturers of other, slower-moving consumer goods like cosmetics, smartphones and cars. Associated British Foods PLC, which owns Primark, a retailer with stores across Europe, and Peacocks Stores Ltd., a U.K. retailer owned by EWM Group, have suspended or canceled orders, according to public statements and notices to suppliers.

Major U.S. retail and restaurant chains, including Mattress Firm and Subway, are telling landlords they will withhold or slash rent in the coming months after closing stores to slow the coronavirus, Bloomberg News reported. In a brewing fight, chains are calling for rent reductions through lease amendments and other measures starting in April. These moves mark the next phase in virus fallout: What happens to billions in rent owed for businesses that have been closed? The stakes are high. Retail has a slew of big chains in turnaround mode. And if they do withhold payments, there would be a ripple effect. Landlords can’t afford to stop collecting rent for long, with many property owners sitting on loads of debt. The situation is likely to get messier. The U.S. relief packages being considered don’t directly address rents. But the Federal Reserve’s actions may give banks the leeway to defer mortgage payments, allowing property owners to delay rent. It’s also unclear if retailers can declare a so-called “force majeure,” a contract clause that covers highly unusual events, and if landlords could then make the same case to insurers. “The court system is just going to get flooded with a million of these disputes between tenants and landlords,” said Vince Tibone, an analyst at Green Street Advisors. “If the government doesn’t step in in any form or fashion, it could get ugly. They need to respond quickly.”

Modell’s Sporting Goods Inc. is asking a judge to suspend its bankruptcy case and its store-closing sales, citing the impact of government restrictions on retailers due to the coronavirus pandemic, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. State limitations and prohibitions on non-essential shopping have forced Modell’s to halt liquidation sales, leaving the company with no choice but to temporarily mothball its operations, Modell’s lawyers said in a filing Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newark, N.J. The New York area retailer, which filed for bankruptcy two weeks ago, had planned to conduct going-out-of-business sales at its 134 stores. But the retailer had to pivot from that plan last week, terminating all employees at stores and distribution centers, as well as laying off most of its corporate employees. The company hopes to hire back terminated employees to conduct going-out-of-business sales once those can resume, Modell’s said. Corporate employees aren’t receiving severance. Modell’s is asking Judge Vincent F. Papalia to temporarily suspend all deadlines. A hearing on its bid to suspend its chapter 11 case is scheduled for today in Newark bankruptcy court.

Neiman Marcus Group Inc., the luxury retailer that’s been struggling to ease its $4.3 billion debt load, is talking with lenders about filing for bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported. No formal decisions have been made, but Neiman Marcus has held initial talks with lenders about a potential bankruptcy loan that would keep the company running while it works out a recovery plan. The situation remains fluid and plans could change, depending on market conditions, the people said. This includes the impact of the coronavirus, with sales suffering because government officials are telling shoppers to stay home and nonessential businesses to stay shut. Neiman Marcus temporarily closed its stores last week in response to the health crisis. It manages 43 namesake stores across the U.S., two Bergdorf Goodman stores in Manhattan, 24 Last Call locations and one Mytheresa in Germany. Even before the virus spread, the company was struggling because shoppers were defecting to online merchants and consumer tastes were changing. It’s been trying to simultaneously spend more on luring customers while taming its debt load. Like other retailers, Neiman Marcus is bracing for a slump tied to the closures. The company said that it will continue to serve its customers through online channels, including a new selling and styling tool designed to help remote purchasing.