Joe’s Crab Shack: The great, shrinking seafood chainJoe’s Crab Shack: The great, shrinking seafood chain

This post is part of the On the Margin blog. 

As my colleague Ron Ruggless reported last week, Landry’s won the auction for Joe’s Crab Shack owner Ignite Restaurant Group.

The company bid $57 million, edging out an offer from a shell company that, according to a source, was formed by Johnny Vassallo, founder of Mo’s Restaurants in Houston, and Houston businessman Corbin Robertson.

Interestingly, the $57 million wasn’t even the most that Landry’s would have paid. Recall that shortly after the bankruptcy was filed, the company bid $60 million and won a deal with Kelly Investment Group to act as a second stalking-horse bidder. The company ended up saving $3 million.

Landry’s and its CEO, “Billion Dollar Buyer” Tilman Fertitta, are getting a de...