Sbarro Ready for Chapter 11, Round 2

Exiting bankruptcy in 2011 didn't appear to take
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 6, 2014 9:54 AM CST
Sbarro Ready for Chapter 11, Round 2
A customer looks at pizzas at a Sbarro restaurant in San Jose, Calif., Monday, April 4, 2011.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again: Probably not advice you'd want from your bankruptcy attorney, but Sbarro is getting ready to undergo its second round of Chapter 11, reports the Wall Street Journal. The pizza chain, which is carrying some $140 million in debt and announced last month that it would close 155 of its 400 restaurants in North America, says it's making "significant progress" after a nine-month review; it could file as soon as Sunday.

Sbarro first filed and exited Chapter 11 in 2011 after the American economic crisis walloped foot traffic in malls, home to the vast majority of its locations. The current filing isn't unexpected: Bloomberg noted Sbarro's continued struggles last week as mall traffic has remained flat. Sbarro has sought to open standalone restaurants and more locations worldwide to offset that; It has some 800 locations globally. Meanwhile, Staples has also announced it's closing 12% of its locations. (More Sbarro stories.)

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