One local Fuddruckers won’t be affected by Luby’s, Inc. liquidation

WACO, Texas (KWTX) – The Fuddruckers restaurant in Waco at 1411 North Valley Mills Dr., won’t be affected by a liquidation plan that involves the sale of the company’s assets including the 73-year-old Luby’s cafeteria chain and Fuddruckers restaurants, a spokeswoman for the local restaurant’s owner said Monday.

“Your local Fuddruckers is open and has no intentions of closing,” Cafe Venture Company Tamara Fitzgerald Ludwig said in a press release Monday.

Cafe Venture Company owns restaurants in Waco, Lubbock, Amarillo, Midland, Odessa and Corpus Christi, Tulsa, Okla., Farmington, N.M. and three in Albuquerque, N.M.

Luby’s, Inc. announced the liquidation plan on Sept. 8.

The announcement follows the Houston-based company’s announcement on June 3 that it’s seeking to sell its assets.

"We believe that moving forward with a plan of liquidation will maximize value for our stockholders, while also preserving the flexibility to pursue a sale of the company should a compelling offer that delivers superior value be made, said Christopher J. Pappas, CEO and president of Luby’s.

“The plan also continues to provide for the potential to place the restaurant operations with well-capitalized owners moving forward.”

Luby’s will seek approval from stockholders to seek approval of the plan.

Assets to be sold include not only the cafeterias and restaurants, but also Luby’s Culinary Contract Services business and the company’s real estate.

The first Luby’s cafeteria was opened in 1947 in San Antonio.

The Fuddruckers chain was launched in 1980.

Luby’s has one cafeteria in Central Texas at 951 North Loop 340 in Waco and a second Fuddruckers restaurant at 2301 East Central Texas Expressway in Killeen.

The Temple Fuddruckers closed in December 2014.

The Luby’s Cafeteria in Temple closed in May 2017 and the Killeen Luby’s closed in September 2000, nearly 10 years after a shooting rampage during which a Central Texas man killed nearly two dozen people and wounded dozens more.

On Oct. 16, 1991 Georges Hennard, 35, of Belton, drove his pickup truck through a plate glass window at the Killeen cafeteria, got out and opened fire with a pair of semi-automatic pistols.

Police said that over the course of 14 minutes, Hennard shot 50 people, 22 of whom died at the scene and one of whom died later.

The shootout ended after a Killeen police officer shot and wounded Hennard, who then shot himself to death.

The massacre at Luby’s was the deadliest mass shooting involving a single gunman in the U.S. that didn’t occur at a school until the nightclub shooting rampage in Orlando in 2016.

The 2017 shooting rampage in Las Vegas now tops the list.