Don't hold those RFC gift cards for too long. Landry's Restaurants is one of the companies Yahoo mentioned as not being able to survive this year. Apparently they have WAY too much debt and can't find a buyer. See this clip from the Houston Fox affiliate:
"Houston-based Landry's Restaurant chain could be one of the latest victims of our struggling economy. The chain is on a list of 15 businesses which some analysts are warning may not make it through the year.
We've already seen the recession sweeping household names off the map. Circuit City pulling the plug, Lawrence Marshall Dealerships running out of gas.
Experts are predicting 2009 bankruptcies will triple what they were in 2008. And now, if new projections released by Yahoo Finance are accurate, one of the "biggest fish" in the restaurant business may be going under this year.
"Consumers are going out less, spending less, and Landry's depends on discretionary spending", says Professor Ronald Singer of the University of Houston's C.T. Bauer College of Business.
Headed by Galveston native, Tilman Fertitta, Landry's operates The Aquarium restaurants, Saltgrass Steak House, Landry's Seafood, and more than a dozen other eateries from coast to coast. It employs more than 27,000 full-time workers.
But the Yahoo Finance forecast says Landry's needs $400 million in new financing to finalize a buyout deal, and its stock is now down 66 percent.
"That's a huge decline", notes Singer, adding "The economy is such that they're a sort of high-end restaurant, and people just aren't going there anymore."
And Landry's Gold Nugget Casino business has lost its glimmer, as well. Between job cuts and investment losses, fewer consumers are betting on Las Vegas. Making matters worse, Hurricane Ike cost the company $13 million.
"They've concentrated on the high-end consumer products, and those things are going to go first in this deep recession we've got," says Singer.
Adding insult to injury, Wall Street's closing bell on Monday was not music to the company's ears. It stock dropped nearly 11 percent from Friday's close.
Other notable companies included on the report include:
Blockbuster, which has 60,000 employees
Six Flags, which has 30,000 employees and two locations in Texas"