Michigan-based Big Boy Restaurant Group on Friday vowed to “vigorously defend” its brand and appeared to criticize locally based Frisch’s – which is suing to stop it from opening competing diners in the region – for its recent wave of closures.
Big Boy, which operates 56 Big Boy restaurants in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, California, North Dakota and internationally in Thailand, said the mass shutterings of more than 60 Frisch’s Big Boys in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana since October “have negatively affected local employees and the community at large.”
The wave of closures started in the fall after a dispute between Frisch’s and its Orlando-based landlord, NNN Reit , emerged in court records. On Oct. 23, Frisch’s disclosed it would close an unspecified number of restaurants due to “unforeseen circumstances.” Court records revealed Frisch’s faced eviction from “more than 20” properties in Southwest Ohio alone. Records also showed NNN Reit claims Frisch’s owed more than $4.5 million in rent…