1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:04,120
Speaker 1: An Indiana institution appears to be in big trouble, and

2
00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,240
Speaker 1: we've reported it before, but it seems like it's getting worse.

3
00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:07,560
Speaker 2: And not better.

4
00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:12,400
Speaker 3: Yeah, Jack's Donuts has filed for Chapter eleven bankruptcy. The

5
00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:15,440
Speaker 3: filing lists over fourteen million dollars in liabilities and one

6
00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:17,880
Speaker 3: point four million in personal property assets.

7
00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:20,599
Speaker 1: And this is a horrible story because it was, or

8
00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:22,720
Speaker 1: at least for a time, appeared to be this incredible

9
00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:25,479
Speaker 1: Hoosier success story. Now, years ago, when I had my

10
00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:30,120
Speaker 1: county radio show in Hindricks County, my night show, I

11
00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:33,960
Speaker 1: had the guy who was the face, not exactly the founder,

12
00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:37,000
Speaker 1: but it was his family. And then he took it

13
00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:39,159
Speaker 1: over in elevator. Lee Markham was the guy's name. And

14
00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:40,880
Speaker 1: it's this incredible stort. I'm trying to remember all of

15
00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:43,080
Speaker 1: it off the top of my head. But his grandpa

16
00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:45,479
Speaker 1: owned this, do I think this is out? When his

17
00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:50,159
Speaker 1: grandpa owned this donut shop in Newcastle, he you know,

18
00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:54,040
Speaker 1: he takes it over, he's doing great with it, and

19
00:00:54,080 --> 00:01:00,200
Speaker 1: then starts franchising these this donut shop, Jack's Donuts out

20
00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:03,880
Speaker 1: across central Indiana and there you know, it's popular. The

21
00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:07,559
Speaker 1: donuts are great, people are opening these stores left and right.

22
00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:09,920
Speaker 1: You know this guy, he's a younger guy, I think

23
00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:12,160
Speaker 1: my age maybe a little older, you know, so at

24
00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:15,760
Speaker 1: the time, he's in his early mid thirties, cheerful guy,

25
00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:18,640
Speaker 1: very involved in the community. Got this great story about

26
00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:20,760
Speaker 1: this family business, and everybody's like, oh man, this is

27
00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:24,160
Speaker 1: the most Indiana thing ever. Well, over the past couple

28
00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:28,560
Speaker 1: years they went really big with it. Appears with Jack's Donuts.

29
00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:31,640
Speaker 1: WRTV amongst others, have the reporting on this. It's all

30
00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:35,759
Speaker 1: over cintrallin Indiana news publications. And he started this basically

31
00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:38,560
Speaker 1: what they called it a commissary in Newcastle, where they

32
00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:42,360
Speaker 1: started making all the stuff in a one location and

33
00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:45,319
Speaker 1: then shipping it out to people, right, Yeah, and it

34
00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:49,240
Speaker 1: appears to have failed miserably. We've done stories on this

35
00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:51,880
Speaker 1: before where the people weren't getting their products. They would

36
00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:54,280
Speaker 1: go days or weeks without stuff. They were having to

37
00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:57,000
Speaker 1: come up with makeshift ways get donuts from other stores.

38
00:01:57,200 --> 00:01:59,480
Speaker 2: Like it's just been this colossal disaster.

39
00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:06,040
Speaker 1: And there's all these civil lawsuits, civil judgments against him.

40
00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:08,120
Speaker 2: In millions of dollars. And now now it is.

41
00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:12,400
Speaker 1: Like I said, culminated in in October twenty ninth, filing

42
00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:13,839
Speaker 1: of Chapter eleven bankruptcy.

43
00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:17,079
Speaker 3: Yeah, so Carter Logistics, which is a transportation company, is

44
00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:20,240
Speaker 3: among one of their creditors, and they've sued them. They

45
00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:24,079
Speaker 3: sued them back in April for seven hundred thousand dollars.

46
00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:27,800
Speaker 3: They said, that's how much Jack's Donuts owed them. But

47
00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:32,640
Speaker 3: Chapter eleven that allows them to reorganize under court supervision,

48
00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:36,440
Speaker 3: and their goal is to repay their creditors over time

49
00:02:36,639 --> 00:02:42,520
Speaker 3: keep the business alive. And the independent franchisees aren't going

50
00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:44,320
Speaker 3: to be affected by this though.

51
00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:46,440
Speaker 1: Well, they're going to be affected in the sense of

52
00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:50,000
Speaker 1: there's clearly some serious issues with this company well being

53
00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:51,680
Speaker 1: able to help their franchisees.

54
00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:54,480
Speaker 3: But if there's a Jack's Donuts near you, it will

55
00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:57,360
Speaker 3: remain open for now. True.

56
00:02:57,600 --> 00:02:59,400
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm not trying to be like uber negative

57
00:02:59,400 --> 00:02:59,720
Speaker 2: about this.

58
00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:03,760
Speaker 1: There's many fine people who own these and their local merchants,

59
00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:05,960
Speaker 1: and they want to do well. But there's clearly some

60
00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:11,160
Speaker 1: systemic issues in this company in which they say they

61
00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:15,080
Speaker 1: have one hundred According to WRTV, they have one hundred

62
00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:20,200
Speaker 1: creditors and fourteen point two million in liabilities.

63
00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:21,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, and.

64
00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:26,160
Speaker 1: Only a one point four million in personal and personal

65
00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:27,040
Speaker 1: property assets.

66
00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:28,799
Speaker 2: I mean, this is well, it's interest to me.

67
00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:31,680
Speaker 3: They made that switch to go to that one central location,

68
00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:35,880
Speaker 3: the commissary, and that's where the quality of the product deteriorated.

69
00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:36,920
Speaker 2: So if they.

70
00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:39,760
Speaker 3: Can financially make it work where they make the donuts

71
00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:43,040
Speaker 3: on site, maybe maybe that's what they have to go

72
00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:43,360
Speaker 3: back to.

73
00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:44,400
Speaker 1: You. I don't know.

74
00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:46,720
Speaker 3: I'm not in the donut making business, I know.

75
00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:50,360
Speaker 1: But you've been around business long enough and big companies,

76
00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:55,040
Speaker 1: and when you're that far underwater, even if take a lot, yeah,

77
00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:56,800
Speaker 1: I mean, even if you can find a way to

78
00:03:56,800 --> 00:04:02,240
Speaker 1: like stop the dam from from breaking further, how do

79
00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:03,680
Speaker 1: you put everything back in the well?

80
00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:04,960
Speaker 3: That was That's what I was going to say.

81
00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:05,760
Speaker 2: How do you get it back?

82
00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:08,880
Speaker 1: And I hate this because he you know, I mean

83
00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:11,840
Speaker 1: he seemed like such a genuine guy. This was ten

84
00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:13,520
Speaker 1: years ago or so that I talked to the guy,

85
00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:15,320
Speaker 1: but this was on when he was on the way

86
00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:17,880
Speaker 1: up and You're like, wow, what a what a cool guy,

87
00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:19,400
Speaker 1: what a cool light. You know, you see what the

88
00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:22,160
Speaker 1: Pacers games and stuff, and it was just like, man,

89
00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:25,440
Speaker 1: what a This is the most Indiana story ever. And

90
00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:27,640
Speaker 1: now it's just all following. I mean, even some of

91
00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:30,600
Speaker 1: these on the claims.

92
00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:32,159
Speaker 3: List, the private margin cannot be huge.

93
00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:37,320
Speaker 1: Well, look, anything post COVID is a risk, right, especially

94
00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:39,240
Speaker 1: as an individual guy. Or in this case, you know

95
00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,240
Speaker 1: a local company and you know you don't know the

96
00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:46,560
Speaker 1: whole deal, but it sounds like he just got in

97
00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:54,440
Speaker 1: over his skis and he just can't he can't deliver.

98
00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:59,680
Speaker 1: And you know, anyway, if you hung a donut, well

99
00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:01,800
Speaker 1: there's one right down the street here.

100
00:05:01,839 --> 00:05:03,560
Speaker 2: I'm sure they could use the business. True