Fourth Street Foods seeks buyer to avoid lay offs

The company announced plans to shut down in early October, citing $80 million of defaulted loans.

Fourth Street Foods, a major food manufacturing plant in Fallowfield Township remains operational as its court-appointed receiver says a sale could be imminent — though no transaction has been finalized.

Once set to shut down by the end of October, Fourth Street Barbecue Inc., doing business as Fourth Street Foods, filed a revised Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice with the state, pushing its possible closure date back to between Nov. 1 and Nov. 30.

The company, once one of the Mon Valley’s largest private employers with 252 workers, manufactures frozen and prepared foods for national private-label and co-manufacturing clients.

While it had previously planned to lay off all employees by Oct. 31, production has continued inside the plant.

Mark Welch, a senior managing director at Pittsburgh-based J.S. Held and co-receiver for the company, confirmed to the Mon Valley Independent on Wednesday that the facility is still fully operational.

He said the company is actively pur- suing a sale and will continue to operate unless or until a deal falls through.

According to news partner WTAE, a letter recently sent to employees indicated that no sale or refinancing had materialized as of earlier this week.

However, Welch told the MVI Wednesday there is now a potential buyer at the table, though he would not disclose the person or company involved.

“We are still operating and we are negotiating…” Welch said. “We expect an asset purchase agreement sometime this week.”

The company’s financial troubles became public on Oct. 3, when Huntington National Bank of Columbus, Ohio, sued Fourth Street Barbecue in U.S. District Court for allegedly defaulting on nearly $89 million in loans.

The case, filed in the Western District of Pennsylvania, remains active.

As of this week, the lawsuit is still in its early stages, with no motions, judgments or settlements filed publicly.

The court has not yet issued any orders in response to the initial complaint.

Fourth Street Foods is also facing a separate lawsuit from Bongards’ Creameries, a Minnesota-based dairy supplier.

The suit, filed in Washington County and federal court, claims the company failed to pay $2.89 million for cheese delivered between July and October.

Bongards is seeking return of its product or proceeds from any of its sale. Public court records do not show a resolution or court ruling in that case as of press time.

Meanwhile, a national class-action law firm, Strauss Borrelli PLLC, is investigating whether Fourth Street Foods violated the federal WARN Act, which requires 60 days’ notice ahead of large-scale layoffs or plant closures.

A formal complaint had not been filed in court as of early November, but the firm said affected employees could be entitled to up to 60 days’ severance pay and benefits if violations occurred.

Company owner David Barbe told the MVI last month that his attorneys were reviewing the cases filed against the company and would respond as warranted.

The Fallowfield Township plant has operated under increasing scrutiny since the pandemic, when it faced criticism over its use of staffing contractors.

One of those contractors later pleaded guilty to harboring undocumented workers, though no charges were filed against Fourth Street Foods.

Barbe, who stepped away from day-to-day operations in 2024, confirmed in October that the business had been up for sale for months, but said he could not comment on current transactions because CEO Chris Scott had taken over.

Scott has not responded to repeated requests for comment.