Restaurant bankruptcies and store reshuffling have continued to reshape the quick-service industry in 2026 as operators contend with higher costs and uneven customer traffic. In Florida, that pressure is playing out at Popeyes franchisee Sailormen Inc., which is shedding more locations after failing to line up buyers for dozens of restaurants.
Sailormen’s bankruptcy sale left dozens of Popeyes restaurants without buyers
Sailormen Inc., a Miami-based Popeyes franchisee, filed for Chapter 11 protection on January 15, 2026, while operating 136 restaurants in Florida and Georgia, according to bankruptcy filings and trade coverage of the case. The company’s restructuring plan centered on selling the stores through a court-supervised process rather than shutting down the entire business at once.
That process moved forward in late June. QSR Magazine reported that a federal bankruptcy judge approved the sale of 97 restaurants to five buyers, with the transactions covering markets including Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Pensacola, Tampa, West Palm Beach and Savannah. Law360 also reported that the court approved a roughly $16 million sale on June 23.
But the sale did not solve the full problem. Multiple reports on the court record said 52 locations failed to attract buyers, leaving Sailormen to seek lease rejections on a portion of the unsold stores. Nation’s Restaurant News reported that the company told the court those stores had become a burden on the bankruptcy estate as its authority to use cash collateral was set to end on July 1.
On June 24, the court approved the rejection of 18 restaurant leases, including 15 in Florida and three in Georgia, according to coverage citing court papers. Those restaurants were expected to close by the end of June, while additional unsold locations still faced unresolved outcomes.
Florida is at the center of the fallout, but the full store list is still incomplete
Florida accounts for most of the activity disclosed so far. QSR Magazine reported that 50 restaurants in the Tampa, Jacksonville, Tallahassee and Pensacola markets were sold to Pulse Restaurant Group, 23 Orlando-area locations were sold to RFI Ventures, 16 Miami-area restaurants were acquired by Popeyes, and three West Palm Beach-area stores were sold to another buyer.
That means many Florida restaurants are set to continue operating under new ownership rather than disappear outright. Even so, the court-approved lease rejections show that Florida is also absorbing most of the immediate closures, with 15 of the first 18 rejected leases located in the state, according to Nation’s Restaurant News and TheStreet’s summary of court papers.
What remains unclear is which specific Florida stores are among the locations that did not find buyers. Public reporting has identified broad regions tied to the successful sales, but Sailormen has not released a comprehensive public list of every affected Florida restaurant that is closing or still awaiting a final disposition.
For customers, that leaves a mixed picture by region. Miami, Orlando, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Pensacola and West Palm Beach all appear in reported sale transactions, but not every existing restaurant in those markets was publicly identified by address in the reporting reviewed.
Rising costs, debt and weaker traffic pushed the operator deeper into trouble
The company’s bankruptcy filings and subsequent reporting point to a combination of operating and financing pressures. Restaurant Business reported that Sailormen entered Chapter 11 after a heavy debt load, liquidity problems and a failed earlier effort to sell 16 restaurants, a transaction that later unraveled and left the franchisee exposed to lease obligations.
QSR Magazine said Sailormen cited a volatile macroeconomic environment and increasing lender pressure when it filed. Court filings reviewed by trade outlets also referenced inflation, rising operating expenses, higher borrowing costs and customer traffic that had not fully recovered from the disruption that followed the COVID-19 period.
Debt figures have varied across reports depending on the document cited. Restaurant Business reported roughly $130 million in debt, while Law360’s summary of the Chapter 11 filing said the company entered bankruptcy with more than $342 million in liabilities. What is consistent across coverage is that Sailormen was carrying obligations large enough to force a sale-driven restructuring.
For Florida residents, the practical takeaway is that Popeyes is not disappearing from the state, but some neighborhood locations are. Popeyes told Nation’s Restaurant News it was proud to see franchisees step up in Florida and Georgia, signaling that many restaurants will remain open under new operators even as more closures move through the bankruptcy process.