Burger King bankruptcy: 57-unit chain with locations in Florida and Georgia forced to file Chapter 11

Burger King, like many major fast food chains, operates on a franchise model, meaning that individuals or businesses own locations that are leased from the company. When a larger franchise owner, like Consolidated Burger Holdings LLC, goes belly up, it can lead to a significant number of closures.

Consolidated Burger sought an emergency hearing in the bankruptcy case

According to the company’s LinkedIn profile, Consolidated Burger Holdings LLC operates 75 Burger King locations across Florida and Georgia and employs around 1,500 people. Earlier this month, Consolidated Burger filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the US Bankruptcy court, reported QRS Magazine on Tuesday, April 15. The petition was accompanied by a request for an emergency hearing, with Consolidated Burger citing “time-sensitive issues involving the Debtors’ vendors, customers and employees will be stymied” if the order is not approved.

Will locations close?

The locations will not close immediately, but the assets of the franchise company will be put up for sale. They can be purchased from various buyers, which could increase Burger King LLC. If some locations are not bid on, it likely means that they are not profitable and thus will shut their doors permanently.

Revenue looks good at Burger King corporate

Burger King is owned by Restaurant Brands Incorporated (RBI), which also owns Tim Hortons, Popeyes, and Firehouse Subs.

Although RBI’s profits fell from 2023 to 2024, based on the company’s earnings reports, Burger King’s operating income rose. At the franchise level in the US, the same documents show that in 2023 and 2024, profitability stood at around $204,000, up from $140,000 in 2022.

Burger Consolidated is far from the only franchisee of Burger King that has struggled with profitability over the last five years, and is not the first to file Chapter 11 Bankruptcy either. QRS looked at a few cases in their reporting and noted that in some, RBI was one of the main buyers of the franchises that were put up for sale.

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