Hard Rock Cafe Brussels Closing: "Discussions are underway to decide its fate"

Hard Rock International has informed us that management has not yet decided whether its last establishment in Belgium will survive the winter, amid rumors announcing a closure by the end of the month. A zombie company, in virtual bankruptcy since its inception, Hard Rock Cafe Belgium will continue to serve its customers "until further notice."

© Hard Rock Cafe Belgium.

"Until further notice, we will be here serving our guests, true to our mission of offering an unforgettable experience in the heart of this vibrant European capital, a city that has always welcomed us with warmth and enthusiasm," assures Hard Rock International.

When asked about the growing rumors claiming that the last Belgian establishment will close its doors at the end of February, the chain – which boasts some 300 restaurants, hotels, and casinos worldwide – acknowledges that this possibility is indeed being considered at the moment. However, the American management downplays its imminence. "While discussions are underway to determine the future of the Hard Rock Cafe in Brussels, no final decision has yet been made."

Ideally located on a corner of the Grand Place, in a 16th-century patrician house, the venue can accommodate up to 200 guests during events, between its lounge bars and its 126 seats. Spread over two floors, the restaurant, open every day of the week, offers all kinds of starters, shareables, and burgers, in a decor filled with collections of instruments and objects that belonged to artists. Not to mention takeout and home delivery via platforms.

At the mercy of a request for dissolution

HRCs are generally popular stopovers for tourists, who leave with at least a souvenir t-shirt, the brand's best-seller. However, "Belgium remains a strategic market in the center of Europe, where Hard Rock Cafe wishes to continue and expand its activities," Seminole Hard Rock International LLC, the holding company that controls the chain, has been stating for over ten years in a comfort letter.

Indeed, as this written commitment indicates, the parent company has had to reassure its subsidiary's creditors every year regarding its financial support. And with good reason: Hard Rock Cafe Belgium has long been in a state of virtual bankruptcy, with a negative equity of more than 10 million euros in the last known financial year (in 2024).

Since the Hard Rock Cafe reopened in Belgium in 2012 (after a fifteen-year hiatus), the company has been frequently subjected to legal proceedings triggered by its financial vulnerability. This situation has routinely forced the board of directors to draw up a continuity plan. To the point that any interested party could petition the commercial court for its dissolution.

Hard Rock Cafe Belgium has never generated an annual profit

In its early days, the fact that the rock'n'roll brasserie posted an initial loss of 1.37 million euros over its first few months of operation was part of the normal commercial risk associated with the hospitality sector. Building renovations and furniture weighed heavily on fixed assets at the time. The loss was moreover reduced in the following financial year, but the establishment already claimed to be suffering from competition on the Grand Place. The parent company then issued its first letter of intent to confirm its financial support.

A capital increase of one million euros in February 2015, followed by the absorption of 1.7 million in carried-forward losses, allowed Hard Rock Cafe Belgium to escape the alarm bell procedure.

However, turnover collapsed under exceptional circumstances starting in November 2015, when the terrorist threat level rose. Yet, the company was considering opening a second location, resurrecting the Hard Rock Cafe Antwerp, and the American holding company was preparing to inject an additional 4.5 million euros.

"The negative results recorded since the company's incorporation are consistent with the launch and development of activities in Belgium," the directors typically rationalized as early as 2017, even as accumulated losses were already swelling to over 2.05 million euros. The new establishment did indeed open in April in downtown Antwerp, despite the "enormous" economic consequences of the March 2016 Brussels terrorist attacks (revenue dropped by more than 20% in a single year). Yet, the Board of Directors never stopped believing in a recovery and even a return to financial equilibrium.

As early as 2018, Hard Rock Cafe Belgium was forced to drastically cut its personnel and indirect costs. The directors admitted at the time that they would continue to "regularly evaluate the evolution of the financial situation of each individual cafe in order to be able to take additional measures."

A series of aggravating circumstances

The Brussels "cafe" managed to achieve its budgeted revenue for the first half of 2019, unlike its Antwerp counterpart. Accumulated losses at the time crossed the 5 million euro mark. A year later, the latest figures showed a 68% collapse in revenue. In 2021, the downward spiral repeated itself (-55%). The explanation bears a striking name: "coronavirus".

"During the lockdowns and the mandatory closures of the hospitality sector, our Cafes focused to the maximum on Take-Away activities. In addition, an appeal was made to temporary unemployment and other support measures," the board of directors specified.

Management also renegotiated its commercial leases to obtain more favorable terms tied to revenue, and tried to reduce costs by using temporary workers instead of hiring additional staff.

In 2023, the axe fell: despite all efforts, the results of the Hard Rock Cafe Antwerp did not improve. Management decided to close the establishment.

Operations were drastically scaled back: while the resto-bar employed more than 110 full-time equivalents in 2018, it counted only 46 in 2024. At the very least, the brand has no overdue debts towards tax or social security administrations, financial institutions, or other third parties. In May 2024, a capital injection added 500,000 euros into the machine.

In light of this accounting turbulence, the rumors of a closure by the end of February rumbling within the HRC community do not seem far-fetched. From a legal standpoint, having net assets below the legal minimum threshold places the company in an ejector seat.

If the executives in Florida decide that the Belgian market is definitively too expensive and refuse to renew their financial backing, the virtual bankruptcy could become very real overnight. The decision to close the Antwerp branch in 2023 has already proven that the Seminole group is capable of cutting dead wood. As for the symbol of Brussels, it is worth remembering that Hard Rock Cafe left France in November 2024 with the closure of its establishment right in the heart of Paris.