A last-ditch effort to save the Luby’s franchise has failed, and assets of the company will be sold, company executives say.
They really mean it this time, and the last meals will be served sometime in August.
It still isn’t clear if all of the Houston-based Luby’s restaurants will shut down Aug. 25, the end of the company’s fiscal year, but the expectation now is that they will do so.
In November, Luby’s made a similar announcement, but then Texas brothers Chris and Harris Pappas (Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen, Pappasito’s Cantina and Pappas Bros. Steakhouse) stepped in to try to rescue a company that was founded in 1947 in San Antonio.
According to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, that effort is being abandoned.
“The novel coronavirus disease pandemic has had a significant impact on our level of operations, guest behavior, guest traffic and the number of locations where we and our Fuddruckers franchisees operate,” the company wrote in its SEC filing.
“Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we operated 118 restaurants. As of Dec. 16, 2020, we operated 83 restaurants,” the company reported.
Luby’s Inc. also owns brands Fuddruckers, Koo Koo Roo and Cheeseburger in Paradise.
Luby’s popular cafeteria-style restaurants in the Valley include two in Harlingen, and one each in Brownsville, McAllen, Pharr and Edinburg.
