Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Update: R.I.P. Barnhill's

Courtesy KAIT

Just a very quick update post here, with sad, but not entirely unexpected, news. As you're all surely aware, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has not been kind to the restaurant industry. Success stories -- like we saw in January with Pasquale's & Frostop -- are very clearly the exception, not the rule. When you're both a broken chain and a buffet, the cards are doubly stacked against you. So, it should come as no surprise that the Barnhill's Buffet in Jonesboro, AR -- which the blog showcased a year ago this month, and which was the very last Barnhill's Buffet remaining -- has succumbed to the pressures of its current operating environment and closed its doors for good.

I had been periodically checking on the status of the restaurant throughout the year -- this one was very concerning, for obvious reasons -- but was always reassured because Google has listed it as offering takeout services all these months. However, it would seem that that information is incorrect. A recent review suggests the restaurant closed sometime in 2020 and has seen no activity since: "I use to love this place. They shut their doors n never reopened after the pandemic. They never went on line and changed anything nor said anything to the people who loved their food [sic]." 

In addition, local news station KAIT 8 backs that up with the details shared in the story below, which -- ironically -- also takes us back into The Blogger's Court (a feature that had its blog debut by way of that original Barnhill's post)...


Barnhill’s sued for $137,000 in back rent

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) - Barnhill’s Country Buffet, 1111 S. Caraway, may be closed for business but that does not mean its rent woes have disappeared.

On Wednesday, Jan. 20, Caraway Plaza, Inc. sued the restaurant’s owners for $137,122.20 in delinquent rent and other charges.

According to court documents, Star Buffet Management dba Barnhill’s Country Buffet extended its lease in July 2019 for an additional 3 years at a base rate of $7,700 per month.

In February of 2020, Caraway informed Star Buffet it was delinquent on rent and payment needed to be made as soon as possible.

The suit alleges Star Buffet promised to “cure its delinquency within 30 days.” However, Caraway says the restaurant failed to do so.

Eight months later, on Oct. 6, Caraway stated it notified Star Buffet again about its delinquency.

At that time the company, which was doing business as Barnhill’s, said it would present an “exit strategy within a week.”

Since then, the restaurant has been closed and no one from Star Buffet has communicated with Caraway Plaza, according to the lawsuit.

In addition to the back rent, court documents allege the restaurant “continues to occupy the premises with personal property and other furnishings.”

On Jan. 12, 2021, Caraway served Star Buffet with a three-day quit and demand letter ordering it to surrender possession of the premises.

“To date, Star Buffet continues to possess the premises and refuses to pay what is due and owing to Caraway, which currently is $137,122.20,” the lawsuit stated.

On Wednesday, Jan. 21, in Craighead County Circuit Court, the state issued a summons to Star Buffet notifying it of the lawsuit and demanding a written answer.

The court also issued a notice of intention to issue a writ of possession and a notice of right to consent to disposition of the case by a state district court judge.

It's also worth mentioning that the Jonesboro Barnhill's isn't the only Star Buffet property whose fate has been called into question. One other notable property is the beloved Casa Bonita restaurant in Colorado, but there are surely many more. And a common theme of all of them, I imagine, is that they have been closed ever since the onset of the pandemic, and have not paid any rent. Not a good sign for their respective futures. Even Star Buffet's corporate website is currently inaccessible due to an invalid certificate -- yikes.

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Sadly, Barnhill's is just one more in a line of numerous restaurants that have fallen victim to constraints brought about by COVID-19. You may recall that I shared with you last May the closure of two of the remaining Danver's restaurants in the Memphis area, as their popular salad bar experience was unable to be effectively replicated via takeout or drive-thru. Instead, Cook Out, which already owned the two buildings, converted one (in Olive Branch, MS) and sold the other (which has been demolished for a Zaxby's). Only one Danver's remains, in Cordova, TN. (Plus another in Tupelo, MS, that is unrelated to the Memphis locations, but that's another story...) 

There's also another broken chain that I intended to profile for the blog in the future, which had two restaurants at the onset of the pandemic -- but one of them closed before I got around to documenting it, which is a particular shame given the circumstances (I'll discuss that more once I get around to that post, though). Thankfully, the second location has remained open, and I still intend on featuring the chain on the blog eventually. 

And, of course, there are also countless other restaurant and retail operations around the country, and the world -- not all just broken chains, but independently-owned operations as well, and even a number of large corporate chains, to boot -- that have all become victims of the inhospitable conditions and restrictions of the current business environment, and had to permanently cease operations. Very sad indeed.

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One last note to end on here... I mentioned that my "The Blogger's Court" feature was first introduced in my original Barnhill's post. You might remember that the topic of the lawsuit covered in that post was whether or not a separate Barnhill's operation, dubbed Barnhill's Steaks and Buffet and located in Jacksonville, AR, had the rights to use the Barnhill's name. Ultimately, Star Buffet (owner of the "real" Barnhill's in Jonesboro) and the owner of the Jacksonville Barnhill's reached a settlement permitting the Jacksonville restaurant to continue using the name... but for all intents and purposes it was not, in fact, an official Barnhill's restaurant. 

Well... now that the Jonesboro Barnhill's has closed, it seems that the Jacksonville Barnhill's -- which has remained open throughout the pandemic -- now has the honor of being the very last Barnhill's standing, even if it is, by all accounts, an illegitimate "rogue franchisee"...

Courtesy KARK

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That's all for this short update post. Keep an eye out for another short (but fun!) post later this month -- I appreciate your patience as you bear with me while I've got some other stuff going on in my life. Until then and as always, thanks for reading, and have fun exploring the retail world wherever you are :)

Retail Retell

11 comments:

  1. That's sad to hear, although even without the pandemic, Star Buffets didn't seem to be in the best shape as it was. According to that news article you quoted, the plaza's landlord was already going after Barnhill's for back rent in February 2020 - before the pandemic began - so even without that 2020 probably would have brought about the end of the restaurant anyway, if the company was already skipping their bills beforehand. Still sad to see another longtime brand slip away like this though.

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    1. Yep, good catch -- I noticed that as well, but decided not to mention it in the post. Definitely a very important detail, though! I agree, it's a sad situation no matter what.

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  2. I'm sad to hear that. The pandemic has all but killed buffets. Hopefully Casa Bonita makes it out, I've been there a couple times when I was little. The food wasn't anything spectacular but it's really a fun experience.

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    1. Agreed. That's cool that you've been to Casa Bonita. I'm not familiar with it besides having come across its name before, but the quote from the mayor in that article suggesting he wanted to go on a ride or something before his term ended makes it sound interesting!

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  3. I had never heard of Barnhill's before, either the Star one or the Jacksonville one (I can't say I've ever heard of Jacksonville, AR either, lol), but it's sad to see another restaurant like this go down. These southern food restaurants that operate somewhere in between fast food and traditional restaurants, whether they be buffets, diners, or cafeterias, were having a very difficult time even before the pandemic.

    Luby's Cafeteria in Houston is still around, but just barely. The expectation is that they will be gone soon in the next few months. We'll see. Piccadilly Cafeteria left Houston after a long history here, but they still seem alive in Memphis. They might be worth a visit. This NE Memphis location looks somewhat retro: https://goo.gl/maps/4PYoKN8mTAsbNVF6A

    While that might look a bit retro, it's nothing like the Piccadilly at Houston's Almeda Mall that closed a few years ago. This place looked wild whether in the old photos of it or with the more modern decor, lol: https://southbelthouston.blogspot.com/2017/06/south-belt-spot-piccadilly-cafeteria-at.html

    This is a bit unrelated, but I'll go ahead and throw this out there since we're discussing Arkansas retail. The Gene Stimson's Big Star chain of supermarkets in West Memphis look totally awesome in the photos. I think l_dawg2000 made it to one of their stores some years ago, but I'm not sure if you've been able to make a visit there. Link: https://goo.gl/maps/YLhsWvNeq2w26CgX8

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  4. Here's an update to my previous post from yesterday. I know you have not approved yet, but there is some breaking news that came out today that Luby's Cafeteria and Fuddrucker's Hamburgers will be closing all locations by August. Of course, in my post yesterday, I posted that they were just barely hanging on and all expectations were that they would close soon.

    It's a bit odd that they're announcing a closing so far in the future. I wonder if the restaurants will continue operating normally until they close during the summer or if they will have an asset liquidation during the closing period the way a store would liquidate. That would be very strange if they do have a liquidation. I've never heard of a restaurant having a going out of business sale, lol.

    Link: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/lubys-closing-down-for-good/285-b672876a-8c99-47f8-8be1-af013bffeba7

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    1. Yes, I agree, these chains were declining even before the pandemic -- but it's sad that something like this is what has been the final nail in the coffin for many. That's very sad to hear about Luby's and Fuddrucker's, but it's probably not too much of a shock given their previously announced bankruptcy. They had a dual location in Jackson that I was hoping to visit one day, but that one closed with the bankruptcy announcement. Anyway, thanks for sharing that news, such as it is.

      Concerning a liquidation, I highly doubt it -- the equipment would simply be auctioned off after all the locations close. However, as supplies run out close to the end, you're more likely to see a curtailed menu and lack of items. For example, when I visited The Spaghetti Warehouse in Memphis after it was announced to be closing, they had already switched to a very limited menu, and ran out of things like parmesan.

      Piccadilly's does well in Memphis as far as I'm aware. They've even opened a few Piccadilly To Go locations in recent years. I intend to try them out one day. We also have Perkins in the region. I suppose they're not actually a cafeteria chain, but for some reason I associate the two in my mind.

      I've seen l_dawg's photos of those Gene Stimson Big Stars, but never been myself. It definitely is on my wish list for sometime in the future, though! And again, sorry for the delay in approving and responding to these comments.

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  5. Wait, Barnhill's was a chain? There were three in Texas that opened in 1998 and closed a few years later, except for one that stayed open, closed, reopened as "New Barnhill's" then became an Asian buffet before shuttering for good.

    I have no idea if they were part of _this_ Barnhill's or not but the logo looks similar. (By the way, in case you're wondering, building started out as Western Sizzlin').

    https://www.google.com/maps/@30.6545062,-96.3650993,3a,74.8y,3.78h,94.83t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s8BNOrAEf_lFWADI0Q7Jsag!2e0!7i3328!8i1664

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    1. Yep, sure was! Check out my original post here: https://midsouthretail.blogspot.com/2020/02/broken-chain-barnhills-buffet-jonesboro.html

      Based on that street view imagery, I'd say they were part of the same chain. That looks like every other Barnhill's sign I've seen, anyway.

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  6. I live in Jacksonville, AR, and the former Western Sizzlin that Steve bought is still going strong nearing the 3-year anniversary of Barnhill's Jonesboro closing / trademark abandonment. (Other than catfish buffets which are still common here due to plentiful supply & strong local demand, about the only buffets left in AR are current or former Western Sizzlins and a handful of Golden Corrals.) Whether or not Barnhill's Jacksonville used the brand legitimately, basically no one is left to challenge it.

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    1. Thanks for the update on the Jacksonville Barnhill's! And yes, very valid point on no one being left to challenge the trademark -- I guess Steve Barnhill gets the last laugh, here.

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