Overview
- The Little Brown Box Pizza, LLC, which operates Pieology, filed for Chapter 11 on December 8 in the Central District of California, with an affiliate, Kustom Partner, LLC, also seeking protection.
- Court filings list assets of $100,000 to $500,000 against $1 million to $10 million in liabilities and more than 200 creditors, including landlords, suppliers and tax authorities.
- Pieology says it will continue operating during the bankruptcy, using a small-business process intended to allow ongoing operations during restructuring.
- Founder Carl Chang’s filings cite a collapsed capital infusion for a turnaround of 29 underperforming locations as a key trigger for the company’s liquidity crisis.
- The chain has contracted from a peak of roughly 150 U.S. locations to about 40 today, with most remaining units franchised and questions lingering over franchise agreements and creditor recoveries.