Marie Callender's Goes Bankrupt, Acts Weird
By: Anthony Adragna
Published: June 14, 2011

Popular chain restaurant and pie maker Marie Callender's has declared bankruptcy and has already closed several stores. In its filing, the store said it would "close 65 of its stores and cut 2,500 jobs, about 20 percent of its total work force." Among the factors cited for causing bankruptcy were the weak economy and falling traffic to stores. 
The news came as a shock to some diners who said their local restaurant was always full of customers. In Washington State, corporate employees came to one branch and ordered everyone out of the restaurant before they had finished their meals. 
Manager Matt Chimm told KEZI, "I thought it was a big joke. Because I was like, I still had people in the restaurant. They're like, they need to leave."
A Marie Callender's spokesman had this to say when confronted with the abrupt closing. "This was a very difficult decision to make. We certainly apologize to any guests in the restaurant," Vivian Brooks told KOMO. "There are certainly a variety of factors that go into the decision-making process. I can't go into that specifically. It is a well thought-out but a very difficult decision."

 
Certainly very odd behavior.

Comments:
Greg Bulmash
June 15, 2011

The shocking part is not the bankruptcy, but the corporate team coming in during business hours and shooing paying customers out. There is NO call for that and it's counterproductive to ever coming out of Chapter 11. Just lock the doors before opening or after closing, or if you *have* to do it midday, let the customers who have been seated finish their meals. That kind of commando raid mentality has no place in solid business practice.