It’s enough to make your rickshaw wobble.
Orlando-based Asian street food chain Hawkers — which has several bustling local locations — shocked devoted fans this week after filing for bankruptcy.
But the company’s owners asserted that the move didn’t spell doom, and rose out of an ownership dispute with a lender.
The “hyper-aggressive” funder, Hawkers told the Orlando Weekly, was attempting to wrest control of the chain — and that the Chapter 11 gambit would fend that off.
The restaurants will remain open, ownership said.
In their statement, Hawkers said it contracted with the lender as a precursor to a major national expansion. But the creditor had designs on ownership, they claimed, and the union soured.
Hawkers currently operates 15 venues in seven states.
They said the bankruptcy will stabilize ownership and allow the business to operate unimpeded.
The chain — which recreates the fragrant cacophony of Asian street vendor clusters — has Jacksonville locations in the Five-Point District and Neptune Beach.
Stay tuned.
