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The Disabled American Veterans had a Room of Honor at Ryan's restaurant, honoring veterans and active personnel in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Ryan’s, a family style restaurant at 1501 W. Poinsett Street, is among 74 reportedly underperforming brand restaurants closed abruptly with many employees oblivious to the unannounced closing until they appeared for their scheduled work shift.
Auction Nation is liquidating the contents for Ryan’s in Greer and Spartanburg. Minimum bids at each location were set at $6,500, with bidding ending Wednesday afternoon. Removal of the store’s contents is by 6 p.m. Thursday.
Unknown is what will happen to the military memorabilia in the restaurant's Room of Honor established by the Disabled American Veterans. The late Preston Johnson, vice president of the South Carolina DAV, helped collect artifacts dating to World War I.
Greenville’s Ryan’s on Laurens Road remains open.
Buffets, LLC, announced Monday it is set to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy so that it can restructure its debts and liabilities, strengthen its operations by closing certain weaker restaurants and recapitalize its business. Food Management Partners acquired Buffets, LLC with Ovation Brands in a merger last August.
"Buffets, LLC, was acquired by merger in August of 2015. The Chapter 11 filing is prompted by the discovery of liabilities, or alleged liabilities, that we believe were not disclosed in our negotiations," Peter Donbavand, Vice President for Business Development, said. "We intend to investigate the propriety of the disclosures, and intend to consult with our counsel regarding any remedies we may have."
Among other matters which were made known only after the acquisition is an $11.37 million default judgment against Buffets, LLC, (formerly known as Buffets, Inc.) which was awarded to plaintiffs in October 2015 arising out of a 2014 court case for an incident dating back to 2010.
That lawsuit was not disclosed by the sellers, and Buffets, LLC, is attempting to overturn the judgment on the basis of the wrong defendant entity having been sued and other grounds. Buffets, Inc., the named defendant, was not the entity actually operating the restaurant where the alleged incident occurred.
“However, based on ongoing assessments of individual restaurants, it is necessary to shutter locations for the continued viability of the brands and our employees.”
Donbavand said the company plans to continue operating the remaining Ovation Brands restaurants “as they are financially viable.”
"All of these issues are being reviewed by financial and legal professionals," Donbavand said. "However, we are completely committed to the continued operation of these brands, and this is a necessary step for us to take to make this happen."
Buffets, Inc., founded in 1983, is the original owner of the Ryan’s and its associated brands Old Country Buffet, Hometown Buffet, Fire Mountain and Country Buffet.
Buffets, Inc., was headquartered in Greer.
Buffets Inc., filed for bankruptcy twice, first in 2008 and it emerged in 2009 but filed for bankruptcy again in 2012 with about 500 restaurants. It closed 140 stores in its second bankruptcy.