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https://www.radio.com/wxrt/news/local/city-chicago-labor-leaders-reach-deal-to-avoid-layoffs
But it said it was planning corporate layoffs to stem the bleeding and reduce costs by up to $4 million. Potbelly had 406 company-owned units and 46 franchised...
https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/potbelly-facing-eviction-its-headquarters
#news #ChicagoNews #CityofChicagoNews
Potbelly is facing eviction from its headquarters
Potbelly Corp. is at risk of being evicted from its headquarters in downtown Chicago, after failing to pay more than $800,000 in rent and other fees, according to court documents.
Potbelly’s landlord, 111 N. Canal Realty Holdco, LLC, has taken the struggling sandwich chain to court, seeking to evict the company from its 27,000 square feet on the building’s eighth floor and to force it to pay its back rent and legal fees, according to documents filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County last month.
The case is set for a status conference on Dec. 4, plaintiff’s attorney Eric Kaplan said. By then, Kaplan said he expects Potbelly will owe close to $900,000.
A Potbelly representative did not respond to a Restaurant Business request for comment on the eviction case.
But, in court documents, Potbelly cited several reasons why it should not be kicked out of its headquarters.
First, the chain noted an eviction moratorium in Chicago, which has repeatedly been extended by Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker.
“No eviction order entered herein against Potbelly could be enforced unless plaintiff proves that Potbelly poses a ‘direct threat to the health and safety of other tenants, an immediate and severe risk to property or [that Potbelly is in] violation of any applicable building code, health ordinance or similar regulation,’” Potbelly’s attorney wrote.
The chain said it did not foresee the pandemic when it entered into its lease in Sept. 2014.
Potbelly said it has been unable to use its headquarters due to federal, state and local orders, as well as government work-from-home advisories.
“Potbelly has not been able to use the space as intended or maintain normal business operations, including at its various restaurant locations,” the chain said in court documents.
Potbelly has seen massive traffic and sales declines amid the pandemic, especially as downtown office workers continue to work from home. In May, the fast casual said it might need to permanently shutter up to 100 stores. It stepped back from that projection earlier this month, revising that number down to 25 to 30 permanent closures.
But it said it was planning corporate layoffs to stem the bleeding and reduce costs by up to $4 million.
Potbelly had 406 company-owned units and 46 franchised ones at the end of Q3, down from 427 corporate units and 45 franchised stores the previous year.
Same-store sales for Q3 fell 21%. They rose a bit through October, declining 19.4%, the chain said. In Q2, Potbelly’s same-store sales were down 41.5%.
Late last week, the chain’s chief legal officer and chief people officer, who had been Potbelly for nearly 14 years, resigned.
In June, it was rumored that Potbelly would declare bankruptcy to get out of some of its leases and that it had hired restructuring consultants to aid in the process.
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These emerging chains are the growth vehicles to watch—the ones poised to be major industry players in the coming years.
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Also welcome this week was a Chicago Federation of Labor report listing a series of specific ways the city could chop $272 million in costs to avert layoffs and,...
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/11/11/21560833/chicago-city-finances-budget-cfl-chicago-federation-labor-lori-lightfoot-editorial
How do you stop layoffs?
(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – The city's biggest labor organization is outlining a plan its leaders say could help the Lightfoot Administration avoid employee layoffs.
https://www.radio.com/wbbm780/news/local/chicago-labor-leaders-create-plan-to-avoid-layoffs
#news #ChicagoNews #CityofChicagoNews
Chicago labor leaders create plan to avoid hundreds of layoffs
CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) – The city’s biggest labor organization is outlining a plan its leaders say could help the Lightfoot Administration avoid employee layoffs.
The Chicago Federation of Labor asked the labor-oriented think tank Public Works, to find alternatives to Mayor Lightfoot’s expectation that she’d have to layoff some 350 employees to balance the budget.
Public Work’s report outlines some $270-million in savings, more than enough to offset the layoffs.
Among the ideas, cutting health care costs, by among other things, having the city self-insure, and make its own deal with a third party health care provider. The proposals also include reducing the number of middle managers and renegotiating towing and information technology leases.
CFL President Bob Reiter said the group looks forward to working with Mayor Lightfoot to put these measures and others into effect.
State Report Says More That 1,000 Layoffs Are Coming At Chicago Area Restaurants Due To COVID-19 Pandemic. By CBS 2 Chicago Staff November 6, 2020 at...
https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2020/11/06/state-report-says-more-that-1000-layoffs-are-coming-at-chicago-area-restaurants-due-to-covid-19-pandemic/
#news #ChicagoNews #CityofChicagoNews
State Report Says More Than 1,000 Layoffs Are Coming At Chicago Area Restaurants Due To COVID-19 Pandemic
CHICAGO (CBS) — The Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act Report for the month of October announced 3,384 coming layoffs in the state – most of them permanent, and many of them at Chicago restaurants.
Employers are required to file with the state for the WARN Report each month, giving 60 days notice in mass layoffs. The total number of restaurant layoffs amounted to 1,070.
Meanwhile, foodservice provider Aramark is enacting temporary layoffs at an unspecified date at multiple locations – 92 at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, 93 at the Rosemont Convention Center, and 192 at the Allstate Arena.
The Ace Hotel, 311 N. Morgan St., already started back on Sept. 30 with 64 temporary layoffs. Takeda Pharmaceuticals in Bannockburn is laying off 400 employees permanently due to a restructuring and relocation, and the mobile outreach program for Catholic Charities at the Archdiocese of Chicago is permanently laying off 43 employees for unspecified reasons.
The reasons for the vast majority of layoffs announced in the report was the COVID-19 pandemic.
Airline layoffs, travel bans, quarantine orders – it's been a calamitous year for the travel and tourism industry. And Chicago's independent travel agencies,...
https://news.wttw.com/2020/10/29/how-chicago-s-travel-agencies-are-surviving-pandemic