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Restaurant chain Hooters files for bankruptcy protection

Hooters is going bust.

The U.S. restaurant chain, known for chicken wings and its skimpy “Hooters Girls” wait-staff outfits, has filed for bankruptcy protection. HOA Restaurant Group filed the motion for Chapter 11 protection Monday in the North Texas Bankruptcy Court in Dallas.

It’s the latest legacy restaurant chain to run into financial trouble amid high food and labor prices, changing customer tastes and growing competition from newer casual chains like Shake Shack.

Red Lobster, TGI Fridays and Buca di Beppo all filed for bankruptcy protection last year, while the Tex-Mex chain On the Border filed for bankruptcy protection last month.

Under the Hooters bankruptcy plan, 100 company-owned U.S. restaurants would be sold to a group of Hooters franchisees. The franchisees, who include Hooters’ founders, currently operate 14 of the 30 highest-volume Hooters restaurants in the U.S., the company said.

The group of buyers said Tuesday it wouldn’t comment on the deal’s financial terms.

Starting at $3.23/week.

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