Although the name remains on a St. Johns Town Center monument entrance sign, the construction fencing has been removed and a grassed lot remains where the Pinstripes indoor bowling alley, restaurant and entertainment center was planned in the shopping center.
Pinstripes Holdings Inc., which had been planning to open a venue near Nordstrom at 10274 Buckhead Branch Drive, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Sept. 8 and said in court filings it is abandoning the Jacksonville property.
The Northbrook, Illinois-based company’s first-day filings included a motion for court approval to cancel leases on 14 properties, including the site on Buckhead Branch Drive.
“The restaurants subject to the Rejected Leases were either closed immediately prior to the Petition Date or were under construction and not operational,” Pinstripes said in the motion filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
“To avoid incurring unnecessary administrative expenses in these Chapter 11 cases for locations that are inconsistent with the Debtors’ go-forward business plan, the Debtors abandoned and/or surrendered possession of the Premises subject to each Rejected Lease on the date hereof, prior to the commencement of these chapter 11 cases,” it said.
Pinstripes said in the motion it operates “in a niche segment of the restaurant industry, pairing scratch Italian-American cuisine with bowling, bocce, and private events.”
The publicly traded company’s last quarterly report said it had 18 locations as of Jan. 5.
The bankruptcy court motion said it now has eight operating locations.
Venues were closed this week in locations including Chicago; Paramus, New Jersey; Norwalk, Connecticut; and Overland Park, Kansas, according to reports by local news outlets in those markets.
Pinstripes reported revenue of $92.6 million and a net loss of $27.4 million in the nine months ended Jan. 5.
The company said in a July 29 Securities and Exchange Commission filing it was unable to file its annual report for the fiscal year ended April 27 “without unreasonable effort or expense as it does not currently have the financial resources necessary to do so.”
The company announced a strategic recapitalization agreement in March with Oaktree Capital Management L.P., which held a majority of its outstanding debt.
However, Pinstripes said in that SEC filing the agreement with Oaktree was terminated.
“The Registrant continues to face a challenging liquidity situation and is in default under its senior secured credit agreements. The Registrant continues to consider all of its alternatives given its current financial condition,” it said.
Pinstripes did not make any SEC filings related to the Chapter 11 filing.
Town Center plans
Ten months after granting demolition approval for the former West Elm furniture building at St. Johns Town Center, the city issued a permit March 12, 2025, for site work to build the Pinstripes Bistro Bowling Bocce venue at 10274 Buckhead Branch Drive in the South Jacksonville shopping center at northwest Butler Boulevard and Interstate 295.
While the construction permit for the $8 million project was filed Aug. 29, 2024, the city had not issued it and voided it March 4, 2025.
The St. Johns Town Center directory map now shows the site as parking, and the lot is vacant and grassed.
St. Johns Town Center representatives were not immediately available for comment.
The concept
Pinstripes proposed to build a two-story, 26,370-square-foot indoor bowling alley, restaurant and entertainment center as part of the fourth phase of St. Johns Town Center, a Simon Property Group holding that opened its first phase 20 years ago on March 18, 2005.
Pinstripes Holdings Inc. says it is an experiential dining and entertainment brand combining bistro, bowling, bocce and private event space. It serves lunch, dinner, brunch and desserts, and has a bar.
CEO Dale Schwartz founded Pinstripes in 2006.
Pinstripes announced May 7, 2024, that it would open in 2025 at St. Johns Town Center. The Pinstripes.com site then said it would open this fall.
As of 10:40 a.m. Sept. 10, the site still had Jacksonville and other locations listed, but Jacksonville since was removed.
