and Basil Couvaras pleaded guilty to a banking violation and agreed to pay fines, while remaining fraud charges against them were dismissed. Jerry Couvaras said, "It was disappointing when it happened because we felt we had not done anything wrong. Unfortunately we had to plead to something. We felt the fine would be the quickest way to get back to doing our business." Company officials stated that the charges were related to a decade-old lawsuit that had previously been settled; Jerry Couvaras further stated, "I think people can really see through what's happened here. People can see what this was really about. I think it was really old animosity." In 2004, Atlanta Bread Company had 5,000 employees and was one of the largest cafe and bakery chains in the United States, with 170 restaurant locations in 25 states. Sean Lupton-Smith was one of the company's most financially successful franchisees, with five locations that generated profits of nearly $2 million per year. In January 2007, Lupton-Smith sued the company for $12 million, alleging that the company wrongfully terminated his ownership of the restaurants. Revenue and store locations decreased significantly after 2004, partially because of poor locations and issues with franchisees that included legal problems; the company had sued franchisees or had been sued eight times between 2001 and 2011. In 2010, the company had a revenue of $122 million. In 2011, the company had 74 locations in 20 states, including 13 company-owned stores; 44 stores had been closed since 2008, when the Great Recession began. Jerry Couvaras stated that the store closings were primarily part of a business strategy in order to gain revenue to remodel existing stores that were left open. Between 2001 and 2011, 66 loans from the Small Business Administration (SBA) were made to Atlanta Bread Company franchisees. Half of the loans failed, totaling $32.8 million, with a loss of $5 million for the United States federal government. As of 2011, Atlanta Bread Company ranked at number 11 on the SBA website's list of the 25 worst-performing large franchises. Atlanta Bread Company has also received accolades over its history, including being ranked in the Top 100 of Fast Casual’s Movers & Shakers in 2011. As of November 2020, there are only 18 restaurant locations in six states. See also List of bakery cafés References External links Official website Bakery cafés Fast-food franchises Fast-food chains of the United States