On Monday, June 2, Sbarro, the pizza chain known as a mall food court staple, exited bankruptcy with new owners, less debt and a plan to rebrand its business, according to a forbes.com article.
The news comes less than three months after Sbarro filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in less than three years, according to Forbes. In February of this year, Sbarro announced it would close 155 of the 400 restaurants it owns across North America. It still owns more than 800 locations around the world and about 600 more locations owned by franchisees, which have been unaffected by the bankruptcies.
To help rebrand its image of selling reheated pizza, Sbarro intends to shift its offerings toward its fast-casual Pizza Cucinova restaurant,which cooks personal, made-to-order pizzas in a wood-fired oven for customers. Sbarro will relocate its headquarters to Columbus, Ohio, to place itself closer to the already-existing Pizza Cucinova locations.
An NBC News article reported that Sbarro has struggled in recent years as shopping mall food court traffic has declined and as consumers have displayed a preference for fresh, wholesome food rather than re-heated pizza.
While Sbarro will cut 40 jobs at its old headquarters in Melville, N.Y., the company’s 2,700 employees across the country won’t be affected by its relocation or reorganization, according to NBC news.