Help trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to ship unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds energy to account and exposes the reality.Whether or not $5 or $50, each contribution counts.Help us to ship journalism with out an agenda.Fashionable US quick meals chain Mod Pizza is on the point of chapter, following a spate of restaurant closures, based on a brand new report.The fast-casual pizza outlet, which is situated in 28 states, is getting ready a possible chapter submitting and will enter court docket safety as quickly as subsequent week, sources advised Bloomberg.Nevertheless the state of affairs with Mod Pizza is fluid and plans may change, nameless sources advised the publication.The corporate is thought for its made-on-the-spot, customizable private pizzas and has greater than 500 places throughout the US since opening its first restaurant in Seattle in 2008.Final yr Mod Pizza earned $700m and was as soon as one of many nation’s fastest-growing restaurant chains.The chain, which opend its first restaurant in 2008, is on the point of chapter, following a spate of restaurant closures in April (Getty Photographs)In 2019 it deliberate to function 1,000 places throughout the US by 2024, based on Restaurant Enterprise.As a substitute, the chain — which named a brand new CEO in January, changing cofounder Scott Svenson — closed 26 underperforming places in April and extra seem to have shut their doorways since then.A spokesperson for Mod Pizza advised The Unbiased: “We now have a model friends love, a passionate group, and a strong turnaround plan underway that’s making progress. “We’re working diligently to enhance our capital construction and are exploring all choices to take action. Since that is an ongoing course of, it will be inappropriate to take a position about an consequence.”It comes within the wake of comparable monetary struggles by different fast-casual eating places together with Olive Backyard and Purple Lobster.The beleaguered seafood eating chain confronted critical monetary harm attributable to a $20 “limitless shrimp” promotion that proved unexpectedly widespread with prospects, and reportedly value it thousands and thousands final yr.The state of affairs with Mod Pizza comes within the wake of comparable monetary struggles by different fast-casual eating places together with Purple Lobster, which filed for chapter in Might (AFP through Getty Photographs)It filed for chapter in Might.An trade professional beforehand advised The Unbiased that Purple Lobster’s collapse signaled the top of the “martini lunch,” as customers ditch fast-casual eating for faster or luxurious choices.Dennis Gemberling, founder and principal of hospitality trade consultancy group, Perry Group Worldwide, mentioned a higher shift in shopper habits – choosing extra “seize and go” meals, or full dinner experiences, is pushing out the middle-ground -or fast-casual eating places corresponding to Mod Pizza, Purple Lobster or Olive Backyard.“The very fact of the matter is full-service eating places… [are] turning into extra of a specialty operation to go to for the after-work crowd, or on holidays and that kind of factor,” Mr Gemberling advised The Unbiased.