BETTENDORF, Iowa — Just one day before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Happy Joe's quietly abandoned its company headquarters in Bettendorf, according to the building's owner.
Realtor Justin Sloan, who owns the 12,000-square-foot building that Happy Joe's leased, told News 8 that on Sept. 1, he received a box of keys and a bankruptcy notice instead of the rent check he had expected.
"I wish I had more information on what happened," Sloan said. "They made no attempt to negotiate or notify me that they were leaving. The last communication I had with them was back in early May."
Happy Joe's was 5 years into a 15-year lease agreement with Sloan when they vacated the building.
Sloan adds that the company may have moved to a new location in Davenport.
When News 8 spoke to Happy Joe's CEO Tom Sacco on Thursday, Sept. 15, he talked about leases as part of the challenges that lead to the bankruptcy filing.
"I have a reputation, okay, of fixing stuff," Sacco said. "That's kind of what I do. I can't let this continue. And the only way out, after analyzing it, was 'we've got to shed these leases.' Because we can't control the food cost, and we can't control the labor situation, right? We're much much smaller than that. But what we can control is where our offices are, where our restaurants are, you know, what we pay in rent."
Sacco also mentioned the company's prioritization of its restaurant locations over its offices.
"One of the leases, we're paying over $10,000 a month. That's 120 grand a year by itself. Another one, we're paying $9,600 a month. And then we had an office lease that we were paying. And we moved our offices as well. Because we went from an office that was costing us about 130,000-ish a year to one that's going to cost us; it's bigger space, easier access, and it's gonna cost us about $25,000 a year. So we're gonna save $100,000 on that," Sacco said.
"I wouldn't have done that for the office if the restaurants were making money. But once you start looking at, 'where can we make the business better?' I don't need a palace as an office. The company; we sell pizzas. We don't need a palatial office. We're a pizza place, right? We're a family place. When you walk into our office, I want you to walk in and feel like you're at a Happy Joe's," Sacco said.
News 8 has contacted Sacco and Happy Joe's about the new location of the headquarters but has not yet received a response.
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