Lawsuits allege bungled business deal, legal chaos caused Middle Georgia Popeye’s closures
Middle Georgians were left without a popular national chicken chain when 16 Popeye’s restaurants, including three in Macon, abruptly closed in May without explanation.
Now, a pair of lawsuits filed in the federal courts in South Florida and Macon reveal a bungled business deal and legal chaos that may explain what happened.
The lawsuits indicate the deal originated when Sailormen, Inc., the Florida-based owner of the 16 Popeye’s franchises, agreed last year to sell them to Tar Heels Spice, Inc., a company out of Wyoming. But after that deal fell apart, a third firm filed a lawsuit claiming that the sale breached contract, further complicating the case.
The sale closed in December 2023. The lawsuit filed in South Florida by Sailormen alleges that Tar Heels Spice agreed to cover rent, employee wages and other expenses following the close, and placed $1 million into an operating account for Sailormen to use.
Sailormen claims Tar Heels Spice never gave them access to the operating account, which led Sailormen to pay the expenses out of its own money without being reimbursed. Sailormen said in its suit that its lawyers twice demanded reimbursement from Tar Heels Spice, but received no response.
Sailormen alleges it paid expenses on the franchises for months. The restaurants closed when they stopped paying. The lawsuit also said some of the landlords have filed suits against Sailormen, which Tar Heels Spice allegedly agreed to be responsible for as part of the sale.
Sailormen’s lawsuit also alleges that Carl McManus, Tar Heels Spice’s CEO, CFO and secretary, withdrew “hundreds of thousands of dollars” for personal use.
Another company sues over the deal
Texas-based Atrium Circle G.P., a company which serves as the landlord for one of the Popeye’s in Jones County, which was part of the sale, has recently sued Sailormen for trying to sell the location. Atrium Circle claims that violated their agreement because the lease was being transferred without proper permission. Atrium Circle’s lawsuit says the locations Sailormen sold were underperforming, and the company believed the sale was a way to avoid further losses.
Atrium Circle also alleges that Sailormen didn’t get correct permission to go through with the sale, instead going through an employee who was not authorized to approve the transaction in order to conceal it.
“Sailormen, Inc. knew Tar Heels to be a sham entity with no intention or ability to acquire or to operate the franchises,” wrote Carl J. Kolb, Atrium Circle’s attorney, in its lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit filed in Georgia by Atrium Circle, Tar Heels Spice was unable to escrow $300,000 needed to close, so Sailormen agreed to instead allow them to use a $450,000 promissory note due in two years.
While Atrium Circle is not named anywhere in Sailormen’s lawsuit filed against Tar Heels Spice, it is the landlord for the Jones County Popeye’s location.
Atrium Circle claims in its suit that Tar Heels Spice is not responsible for the payments or lawsuit because the sale through which they acquired the Jones County franchise was not executed properly and violated the terms of Atrium Circle’s agreement with Sailormen.
Atrium Circle’s lawsuit said they stopped receiving rent payments from Sailormen for the Jones County location in January 2024. Atrium Circle allegedly received payments from Tar Heels Spice for February and March 2024 totaling $21,267.32, but they were not paid correctly.
Atrium Circle also alleged in the lawsuit that McManus took money, saying that McManus took about $850,000 in revenue by directing credit card receipts to his personal bank account. Atrium Circle’s lawsuit claims that Sailormen knew about this, but “looked the other way.”
McManus did not respond to requests for comment on this story.
What now?
The judge in the case that Sailormen filed against Tar Heels Spice has ruled that McManus lost by default because he didn’t show up to court or respond to the lawsuit. Sailormen has been asked to turn in paperwork showing why the company is entitled to the damages sought.
In the other lawsuit, Atrium Circle has accused Sailormen of breach of a commercial lease agreement and unjust enrichment. Atrium Circle is asking for more than $1 million in damages, as well as a termination of the agreement transferring the lease for the Jones County property from Sailormen to Tar Heel Spice. This would mean Sailormen would be responsible for future payments.
The lawsuit filed in Macon is only an allegation and representatives for Sailormen Inc. have not filed a legal response. Neither Sailormen Inc. nor Atrium Circle returned requests for comment.