Giordano's Files For Bankruptcy Protection

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Feb 18, 2011 5:45PM

Things are tough over at Giordano's enterprises, the parent company of the stuffed pizza chain. Owners John and Eve Apostolou filed a bankruptcy protection petition with the Illinois Northern District Bankruptcy Court Wednesday, and requested an emergency meeting with vendors and a judge yesterday, to authorize payroll and vendor payments while they move to operate as debtors in possession rather than close the accounts typical with bankruptcy filings.

Giordano's filed for bankruptcy after defaulting on $45 million in loans that mostly went toward real estate purchases. Judge Eugene Wedoff authorized payments of $207,000 in payroll and an estimated $700,000 to vendors for amounts due on deliveries of goods in the past 20 days.