Goodbye, Heinemann's

Heinemann's Restaurants are CLOSED.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Heinemann's Restaurants, a well-known Milwaukee restaurant since 1923, has closed - the victim of a recession and too much competition.

The three Heinemann's Restaurants, in Fox Point, Brookfield and Milwaukee, as well as the company's commissary on E. Locust St. stopped operating on Tuesday with no advance warning. About 115 people lost their jobs.

..."I was here for breakfast yesterday, and they didn't say anything about closing," said Vera Pina, a social worker and loyal Heinemann's diner.

"They always had wonderful people working for them, and I wonder what they're going to do now," she said. "And I don't know what we're going to do without them."

Co-owner Peggy Burns and her managers began calling employees Tuesday evening, after the restaurants closed for the day, to tell them of the closing.

"It's a very difficult time," said Burns in an interview.

Heinemann's has debt of about $725,000 and is unable to pay its creditors in full, Burns said.

Jerry Kerkman, an attorney representing the company, said Heinemann's would pay its debts following the same procedure outlined in federal bankruptcy codes. But the company is trying to do that without filing for bankruptcy, he said.

Heinemann's is paying its employees, but lenders will take possession of the company's assets, which include the commissary, equipment and furnishings at the restaurants. Those lenders, which hold secured debt, will be paid first; other creditors will be paid on a prorated basis from any remaining assets.

Customers who have Heinemann's gift cards are among the unsecured creditors. The restaurants sold gift cards through the holidays.

"We hope to pay them," said Kerkman, explaining that the company started keeping a list of gift card purchasers after plans for the closing were first discussed in November.

People who hold Heinemann's gift cards can contact the company by e-mail at heinemanns1923@yahoo.com to get information on how to claim a refund.

Burns owns the company with her former husband, John Byron Burns, a grandson of founders Byron and Dorothy Heinemann. Peggy Burns has run the company in recent years, after John suffered an illness that made it impossible for him to work.

Declining sales have made it impossible for Heinemann's to continue to operate, she said. The company closed its Greendale location last summer, after earlier shuttering restaurants in Whitefish Bay, Grafton and Wauwatosa. At its peak, Heinemann's had 11 locations.

Burns tried to continue with the remaining three locations, but in recent months has fallen behind in paying vendors.

..."So many different venues are selling food," Burns said. Even gas stations are selling food, and Starbucks has experimented with selling breakfast items.

It would have been too expensive to remodel Heinemann's restaurants into a more contemporary format, Burns said, and her customers would not have accepted anything but full table service.

Burns also said the new Milwaukee ordinance that requires city employers to provide sick days to their workers would have made it difficult for her to continue in business.

...Now, regular customers are mourning the loss of the local institution, along with its grilled tuna sandwiches, lush tortes and chicken pot pies.

Although I haven't been to Heinemann's in years, I'm terribly sad to see the restaurants close.

There was a time when I frequently ate lunch at the Milwaukee St. location. I have many fond memories of being there.

Eighty-five years is a long time to be in business. Heinemann's restaurants have been part of the Milwaukee area's landscape for more than half of the existence of the city itself. It's the end of an era.