Local Ham’s to stay open -

Corporation ?les for bankruptcy

Ham’s Restaurants, Inc. filed for bankruptcy this week, but its Chapel Hill restaurant plans to operate as usual.

Franchise owner Ryan Faircloth said there won’t be layoffs at the West Franklin Street restaurant, which operates independently of the corporation.

“Our staff and our specials and all of that are staying the same,” he said.

The local Ham’s employs about 55 people, Faircloth said.

The corporation filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy after they were unable to pay more than $1.5 million in tax debts and about $836,000 to Sysco Food Services of Charlotte, according to their filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of North Carolina.

“Basically filing is just a chance for us to kind of restructure and move forward,” marketing coordinator Amanda Jones said.

As part of their reorganization, the corporation will close restaurants in Kinston, Charlotte and Burlington, Faircloth said. The company operates 13 Ham’s in North Carolina and one in Virginia, their filing states.

The Chapel Hill location’s revenues have increased each year for the past three years, Faircloth said.

The state of the economy was cited as a reason for filing for bankruptcy in news release from Ham’s Restaurants, Inc.

In the Eastern District, where Ham’s filed their claim and which includes 44 counties in eastern North Carolina, about 20 percent more bankruptcies were filed in 2008 than in 2007, to 9,457 up from 7,895, according to U.S. Bankruptcy Court data.

There have been 8,600 filings in the Eastern District in the first nine months of 2009.

On Friday, Ham’s filed an emergency motion to use cash collateral to continue operating while they restructure.

The company, based in Greensboro, was started in 1935 and employs more than 1,000 people, their release states.

“Ham’s main priority at this time is to keep its employees working,” president and CEO Charlie Erwin said in a prepared statement.

None of the laid off employees have expressed interest in moving to the Chapel Hill Ham’s, Faircloth said.

Faircloth decided to operate a Ham’s after attending UNC. He said the franchise agreement leaves him with operational independence.

“The only ones that they have closed were corporate-owned stores, not ones with franchise owners,” he said.

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.