Popeyes Franchisee Sailormen Closes At Least 20 Locations After Bankruptcy Filing

Sailormen Inc., one of Popeyes' largest U.S. franchisees, shut at least 20 restaurants across Florida and Georgia after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on January 15, 2026, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida. The Miami-based operator, which ran 136 Popeyes locations, estimated roughly $130 million in debt in its filing and cited rising operational costs, higher borrowing expenses and wages, and consumer behavior changes since the COVID pandemic.

The closures came in two waves. Seventeen locations went dark in January as part of the bankruptcy process. Then on March 10, Sailormen filed a motion to reject the leases on three additional Georgia restaurants that had already been shuttered before the January petition: 1817 Glynn Ave in Brunswick, 628 W Parker St in Baxley, and 419 S Church St in Homerville. That motion brought the confirmed closure count to at least 20.

The financial unraveling stretched back years. Records show Sailormen began struggling to pay bills as early as 2022, and the company was eventually sued by multiple vendors over unpaid invoices. A 2023 deal to sell 16 Georgia locations fell through, draining cash flow. In 2025, an attempted sale of 32 Jacksonville-area restaurants produced no agreements either. By the time Sailormen reached bankruptcy court, two consecutive failed sale processes and four years of mounting obligations had left the company with few options.

Sailormen's collapse did not happen in isolation. Popeyes reported four straight quarters of negative same-store sales, with full-year 2025 performance down 2.9% and a steeper 4.9% decline in the fourth quarter alone.

In an internal memo sent to the Popeyes system in January, Popeyes president Peter Perdue sought to limit the damage to system confidence. "Sailormen has been a successful, growth-oriented franchise organization for many years in our system," Perdue wrote, adding that "a large majority of their restaurants are very profitable, in line with our system average (and some above average)." Perdue said the franchisor was supporting Sailormen "every way we can through this process and believe in them as operational leaders in our system," and noted the franchisee carries "more leverage than is common in our current Popeyes system."

Nation's Restaurant News reported that Sailormen now has 116 restaurants remaining in its portfolio, a figure that contrasts with the 136 locations cited widely in local coverage. No source has publicly explained the arithmetic between those two numbers, and no statement from Sailormen's management or legal counsel has addressed the discrepancy.

Sailormen has operated as a Popeyes franchisee since the late 1980s. Chapter 11 allows a company to continue operating while it restructures its finances, and the fate of the more than 100 remaining locations hinges entirely on whether that restructuring holds.