K&W Cafeteria Inc., a Winston-Salem-based icon of Southern comfort foods, has gone out of business after 88 years.
The chain said in a Facebook post聽that "we are sorry to announce that after proudly serving this and many other communities for years K&W Holdings Group LLC will be closed permanently."
The end came abruptly, considering K&W had been marketing its traditional Thanksgiving lunch and dinner specials on Facebook last week.
The owner also released a statement in which it said "this is not a decision we ever wanted to make."
"Unfortunately, like many restaurant companies across the country, we have struggled to navigate an extremely challenging operating environment. Despite our best efforts, the business could not return to a sustainable level of performance, and we were no longer able to continue operating responsibly.
"This outcome is heartbreaking for every person connected to K&W. We are truly sorry to bring this chapter to an end."
K&W was down to 11 locations,聽including two in Winston-Salem and two in Greensboro. The other locations were in Burlington, Concord, Raleigh, Rocky Mount and Roanoke, Virginia.
"While we are heartbroken to hear the news, the Allred family is forever grateful to the generations of dedicated team members and loyal customers who made K&W an iconic brand for over 80 years," said Dax Allred, K&W's president when it was sold in 2022.
聽"Although the K&W history is now complete, long live the countless memories of families and friends coming together over a meal at their local K&W Cafeteria.
"I will miss that chocolate cream pie!"
Sold in 2022
The closing comes after the chain was thrown a financial lifeline in August 2022 when聽Louisiana-based restaurant chain Piccadilly bought it for an undisclosed price.
At that time, Piccadilly announced a plan to keep the brand alive, including considering returning to cities and towns where K&W had been a dining staple for years.
Piccadilly could not be immediately reached for comment on the decision on K&W going out of business.
In August 2020, before K&W filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection the next month, it closed restaurants in Chapel Hill, Goldsboro, Raleigh and Salisbury.
It shuttered its experimental K&W Cafe in Clemmons in July 2019 and a location in High Point in January 2020.
When K&W was sold, Allred said that "after three generations of the Allred family operating K&W restaurants and serving our treasured guests, a new leadership group will continue the longstanding K&W tradition of serving homestyle, scratch-made food to our guests."
"All cafeteria team members will have the opportunity to remain onboard, so rest assured you'll see the same smiling faces on the line, the kitchens and our dining rooms," Allred said.
Bankruptcy in 2020
The August 2022 sale of K&W was not unexpected, given that it was listed as an option, along with its assets being put up for auction, when the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2020.
Overall, since celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2012, K&W had shrunk from 35 restaurants to 18 at the time of the bankruptcy filing, including three in Winston-Salem and 14 in North Carolina.
K&W said it had 1,035 employees when it entered bankruptcy but had reduced its workforce to 834 as of a December 2020 filing.聽After six months of failing to find a buyer and being unable to secure what the Allred family considered an adequate bid for the assets, management reversed course in March 2021 and chose to keep 14 restaurants open.
A federal bankruptcy judge approved the final K&W reorganization plan in June 2021, and the company emerged from bankruptcy protection in September of that year.
Allred said at the time that "although our geographic footprint has contracted, we look forward to operating K&W Cafeterias as a profitable, debt-free company going forward."
When K&W closed the two Triangle locations, Allred told the Raleigh News & Observer that its business dropped off about 80% during Phase One of the COVID-19 pandemic statewide restrictions, which lasted from March 10, 2020, through May 22, 2020.
Phase One permitted only takeout and delivery sales.
Although Allred said K&W was able to regain some business during Phase Two, which allowed for limited indoor and outdoor service, it continued to struggle because its primary customers are elderly diners who were advised to stay at home during the pandemic.