Once-booming restaurant development company Treadsack has been in the news a lot recently since the unexpected and sudden closure of two of its concepts, Foreign Correspondents and Canard, in late 2016. After the venues shuttered, allegations started to surface of non-payment of employee payroll, embezzlement, and family members and non-employees on payroll and benefits.
In case you aren’t familiar, Treadsack is the brainchild of Chris Cusack and Joey Treadway, and the company owns several popular Heights-area restaurants including Down House, Bernadine’s, and Hunky Dory. Business had been very good, and the company opened three new restaurants and a bar in the period between October 2015 and March 2016. It seems that this staggering expansion was too much, too soon, and financial strains caught up with them, and by April 2016, the company’s accounts had gone into collections and employees were dealing with frequent bounced checks.
This week news surfaced that Treadsack’s flagship venue, Down House, has filed for Chapter 11 but will continue to operate. Down House has been tremendously popular since it opened in 2011 and seemed immune from the trouble that plagued the rest of the company. Hunky Dory and Bernadine’s are already under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but for now all three restaurants will remain open. A statement from Chris Cusack emphasized that this is a protective measure to allow the restaurants to pay employees and stay in business while buying the company time time for financial restructuring, and is not an indication that they will be closing.
We’ve always enjoyed dining at Treadsack’s various establishments, and Down House is basically a Heights institution at this point. In the short time it was open, Foreign Correspondents drew national acclaim and was ranked among the country’s hottest new restaurants. We are certainly rooting for Treadsack to get financial matters under control and return to the top of their game and will be watching to see how this story continues to unfold.
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Source: Houston Business Journal