Round Table Pizza Bankrupt

[storewanderer]

I just read this chain filed bankruptcy last week. I'm not the least bit surprised. Their company operated restaurants are a disaster. High prices, spotty quality, spotty cleanliness, so so service. I thought they were "employee owned." I wonder how that worked.

I can't wait to see how many more territories they abandon. All of their units in my area are company operated. We'll see how many remain open. They've already been closing some over the past couple years.

Maybe if it wasn't $20 for a skimpily topped large pizza or $8 for a skimpily topped personal pizza or $4 for 3 twists I'd go there more often. It is by far my favorite chain pizza, when made correctly. That is a real rare event around here.

[Alpha8472]

Employee-owned is a very misleading term. People think that it means cooperative or non-profit. These are purely myths.

Employee-owned companies are companies where most of the company stock is owned by employees and is not traded on public stock exchanges. However, who really owns the company? The rich executives own most of the stock and they also have virtually all of the control in the company. Average low paid employees can't afford to own much stock in their company. Again, when you have a few people in power this can lead to completely irrational business decisions.

A lack of control and supervision can lead to the company falling apart from within. So basically, any company can become corrupt and mismanaged. Also, any company whether it is privately owned, public owned, or employee owned can be successful providing that the people in charge run it well.

Round Table over-expanded into many suburban areas during the housing boom. Then the housing market crashed. The houses went empty. The restaurants lost their business. Now the company is dealing with their fatal mistake of over-expanding. Sometimes it is better to play it safe and not open new stores.

With that said, their pizza isn't that bad. They use more fresh ingredients than their competition. This also increases their costs drastically. It is a trade-off. Fresh ingredients cost more, but provide a higher quality pizza. Still, if the store is dirty and poorly run, the fresh ingredients will be the last thing that customers notice.

[VibeGuy]

Our area is mostly operated by an absentee owner from Santa Rosa, CA. I'm a big Round Table fan, so I'm hoping this is a quick prepackaged bankruptcy.

[StoreLiker2006]

I know the Oak Grove RTP location still exists. I wonder if it will shutter soon?

~Ben

[Alpha8472]

Round Table Pizza emerged from bankruptcy in December 2011. They got out of bankruptcy in 10 months and paid off their creditors 100%.

It is still an employee owned company, and the fact that they got out of bankruptcy so fast means that they seem to be on the right track.