From five locations to bankruptcy: What went wrong at Meadville's Cannon's Chophouse?
At one time in Charlie Bish's restaurant career, he was the owner of five restaurants sprinkled from southern Michigan to Pittsburgh. On Tuesday, he faces every restaurateur's worst nightmare: a bankruptcy hearing in which he'll most likely fail to come up with a plan to repay debts totaling at least $500,000 to 17 creditors.
He finally had to close his last and original restaurant, Cannon's Chophouse, 994 Market St. in Meadville this summer, after a failed Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. He admits it's not out of the realm of possibility that he could lose his house and other personal assets.
The 58-year-old father of four said he's glad about two things: No. 1, He was finally able to make his last payroll with the help of federal COVID assistance and No. 2, that he "wouldn't trade the experiences for anything."
While COVID spelled the end for Bish, he said most of his debt was incurred before anyone donned a N-95 mask or started hording toilet paper. While in the ensuing years, the United States Census report found COVID has damaged restaurant and bar sales by $280 billion, the industry is starting to recover. But it's too late for thousands of restaurateurs who saw their once steady income evaporate.
COVID forced approximately 110,000 restaurants out of business, according to Business Insider magazine, but that was only the bitter end for Bish, whose business was already faltering.
"The debt we have was incurred before COVID," he said. "It finally killed us, but we were in trouble before that."
Bish still has a day job in healthcare administration, and most of his former restaurant employees have been able to find jobs elsewhere, but he describes himself as a tired old man.
"Many thought we just didn't want to reopen," Bish said when the Meadville restaurant closed. "They said 'Just do to-go.' It wasn't that simple. That wasn't our jam."
For Bish, it all started with a chain restaurant in Montana he opened as a franchise of Montana Rib & Chophouse in 2008. He sold that and opened another in Meadville in 2009.
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Timeline of Montana Rib & Chophouses/Cannon's Chophouses
Opened Montana Rib Chophouse out of Miles City, Montana in 2008, sold it in 2009
Moved the concept to Highline Drive, off Route 19, in Vernon Township near Meadville in November 2009
Opened a second location in Hermitage, Pennsylvania, in 2011
Opened a Michigan location in 2012 and it was open until 2014.
Opened in Pittsburgh in 2015; Closed for COVID and never reopened after three years.
Changed name of all his restaurants to Cannon's Chophouse (named for a dear family friend) in 2017.
Opened an Erie location at 7165 Peach St. in Summit Township, in 2017, which closed within a year. (A Dunkin' now occupies that spot.)
Opened in Grove City in 2019.
The state forced the closure March 17, 2020, of all remaining restaurants, including Cannon's in Meadville, Grove City, Southpointe (Pittsburgh)
The Meadville location opened in October 2021 at its current spot, the site of the former 1776 Bar & Grill.
Closed everything but Meadville by 2022.
Filed for bankruptcy in February.
'I said yes.'
Bish takes responsibility for bad business decisions, including the Michigan store, which failed due to his lack of oversight and not knowing the community or his stiff competition in that area.
Bish said if he'd stuck to three restaurants: Meadville, Grove City and Pittsburgh, he might have made it work.
"I should have said 'You've got three good restaurants on I-79,'" he said. "That's where we should have stopped."
He said those three restaurants had a steady waiting line Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, but he was still paying franchise fees to Montana Rib and Chophouse, and an adviser suggested he invest that money into the restaurants instead. So he stopped paying the franchise fee and changed the restaurants' names to Cannon's Chophouse to honor a family friend.
"Everyone thought we'd sold it," Bish said. "The next week after, our sales were way down. That was the worst decision I made. I said yes to that."
He said it took a year and a half after changing the name to regain their footing. "We started to get back on our feet," he said, but at that point, he already had amassed much of the debt to food vendors and others that still weighs him down today.
By 2019, he said he was faltering cash-wise, but he thought he was climbing out with restructured payment plans. When he opened the Grove City store, he was feeling good, but perhaps overly optimistic.
"We were counting on a home run from the start," he said. "It didn't go well."
Six months after they opened in Grove City, the pandemic hit. They had already closed Erie and Hermitage for good and the last three locations were forced by the state to close completely for six months.
With no restaurant income, he said, his Meadville landlord suggested he start doing takeout.
"We weren't set up for that," Bish said. "We're a special occasion steakhouse. I couldn't really pivot."
Gift cards: 'That money was already gone'
They got behind on the rent. When they finally reopened in September of 2020, customers came in droves — wanting to use up gift cards.
"When the community found out that we were losing our building, between Sept. 1 and Dec. 31 we were honoring gift cards for $20,000 a month," he said. While they had received the money for those gift cards up front, by the time people were using them, that cash was already gone.
"In 2020, we honored $80,000 in gift cards," Bish said. "But that money was long gone. We honored them, of course, but it was debilitating."
He limped along in Meadville since COVID restrictions have lapsed, but his landlord was done waiting and Bish was forced to move the restaurant to the Market Street location. The week he first declared bankruptcy in February, sales went way up — meaning more gift card redemption. The week after declaring bankruptcy, guests cashed in another $12,000 in gift cards. The following week, sales fell $5,000 because he said, "People hear bankruptcy and think you're closed."
COVID money helped him make his last payroll, but he couldn't afford to buy supplies and was forced to close. His liquor license expired July 31 and he couldn't afford the renewal fee.
While telling the story, he stopped a few times to reminisce about special moments, including fundraisers for Meadville-centric causes and events such as engagement parties. He said he and the staff were able to count eight marriages that came of staff members who met working in Meadville.
"I miss all that stuff," he said. "That's the fun part."
He said he actually enjoyed busing tables on busy nights when guests would gush when they learned he was the owner. And he said he added up the money the Chophouse made for the community, including the recreation center, the hospital, French Creek Committee and the community theater.
"We raised like $150,000 for charity," he said with a sigh.
Bish said he wasn't the perfect restaurateur, but luck didn't help either.
"Unbelievably, I think we'd still have made it if it weren't for COVID," Bish said. "It was always recoverable if we could have reset after the hangover of the rebranding. But when you go into (COVID) it was too much to navigate."
What's next for Cannon's
On Tuesday, Bish and his lawyers will appear in court to hear the judge's verdict on their most recent bankruptcy plan. It will most likely result in the sale of the restaurant's assets to cover a sliver of their debt.
"(Running a restaurant) is hard work," Bish said. "Especially during something like COVID. So many figured a way to survive that. We just couldn't figure it out."
Contact Jennie Geisler at jgeisler@timesnews.com. Or at 814-870-1885.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: From 5 to none: What happened to Meadville's Cannon's Chophouse?
