The company that owned the San Francisco Oven franchise and was co-founded by restaurateur Bruce Swisshelm filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy on April 13 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Missouri.
SFO Missouri Inc., formerly known as The Swisshelm Group Inc., is the first business tied to Swisshelm to file for bankruptcy since he and his wife filed for bankruptcy liquidation March 14. According to the personal filing, there were 14 businesses for which Bruce Swisshelm had at least partial ownership, and nine were listed as active.
Swisshelm, president of SFO Missouri, owned and operated the San Francisco Oven franchise, area Macaroni Grill and Ebbets Field restaurants, and McAlister’s Deli sites in Florida.
The SFO filing shows that Swisshelm owned 28 percent of the business. Four others each owned 18 percent of the common stock: Bruce Swisshelm Jr.; Joe Swisshelm; Scott Swisshelm; and Kelly Parker.
The company lists $123,016 in assets and $2.2 million in liabilities. Its assets include a 2012 Toyota 4-Runner valued at $43,000 and equipment and furniture worth $75,000. Its secured creditors are Liberty Bank, which is owed more $976,000, and Toyota Financial Services, which is owed more than $42,000.
A total of 36 employees were listed as unsecured creditors with priority claims worth more than $13,668. Other unsecured priority claims were to the Internal Revenue Service and the Missouri Department of Revenue for more than $399,000.
The total value of nonpriority unsecured claims was $768,000.
A call to Bruce Swisshelm at his home and a call to the SFO Missouri Inc. office on South Ingram Mill Road were not returned by deadline. A message on the company phone said the Swisshelm Group was permanently closed. A call to Bruce Swisshelm Jr. at his home was not returned by deadline, and attempts to reach him at Romano’s Macaroni Grill on East Battlefield Road, which the younger Swisshelm manages, were unsuccessful.
SFO Missouri owned two San Francisco Oven locations, one on East Sunshine Street and one at Branson Landing. Hilton, the landlord for the Branson location, terminated the restaurant’s lease following the Leap Day tornado that damaged the area, according to Springfield attorney David Schroeder, who represents SFO Missouri Inc. in the bankruptcy case.
“Between the income from the two locations and the loss of the Branson location, there wasn’t enough net profit revenue to sustain the debt service and the operations of the business,” Schroeder said.
SFO Missouri also was a franchisor to two locations in Texas operated by DFW San Francisco Ovens LLC, one of which recently closed, according to the company’s Director of Operations Ken Campbell.
However, two of the four former San Francisco Oven locations are still open for business. Gordon Elliott, owner of Elliott Lodging Hotel Management, was the landlord for the Springfield location on East Sunshine Street and took over the restaurant's operations March 31 through Market Place Properties Inc. Elliott recently expressed an interest in buying the franchising rights for the company. Also, DFW San Francisco Ovens LLC co-owns and still operates a Dallas-area San Francisco Oven, according to Campbell.
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