Despite ongoing financial challenges and a recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, Slutty Vegan founder Pinky Cole Hayes is moving ahead with expansion plans for the fast-growing vegan restaurant chain.
On The Comeback
According to a recent company-issued statement, the Atlanta-based entrepreneur has secured new franchise agreements that will bring additional Slutty Vegan locations to Atlanta and Washington, D.C., signaling continued growth for the brand even as it navigates restructuring efforts.
The expansion comes just months after bankruptcy filings drew scrutiny from critics and sparked questions about the company’s finances. While the filing raised concerns about the future of the business, Cole Hayes has maintained that the restructuring process was intended to stabilize operations and position the company for long-term growth.
The new franchise deals suggest investors and operators remain confident in the Slutty Vegan brand, which has become one of the most recognizable Black-owned restaurant chains in the country. Since launching in 2018, the company has built a national following with its plant-based burgers, celebrity endorsements, and strong social media presence.
Rather than scaling back, Cole Hayes is using franchising to continue expanding the brand’s footprint while limiting the capital required for company-owned locations. The strategy could allow Slutty Vegan to enter new markets and generate additional revenue as it works through its financial restructuring.
The latest agreements represent a significant step for the company, demonstrating that growth opportunities remain available despite the challenges that often accompany bankruptcy proceedings.
For Cole Hayes, the focus appears to be on rebuilding and expanding the business rather than retreating from the spotlight. The new locations in Atlanta and Washington are expected to strengthen Slutty Vegan’s presence in two of its most important markets and could serve as a foundation for future growth.
Both new markets carry strategic weight. Atlanta is where Slutty Vegan was born and where its cultural identity remains strongest. Washington represents access to a high-income, socially conscious consumer base with documented appetite for mission-driven brands. Neither deal was accidental.
What Cole Hayes built is worth understanding in context. Slutty Vegan launched as a vegan burger concept and evolved into something considerably more complex: a lifestyle brand, a social media phenomenon, and a recurring case study in community-driven entrepreneurship.
Customers lined up around city blocks before the brand had a permanent address. Celebrities amplified it without being paid to. Investors followed. For this market, the Delta Sigma Theta member was the “it girl” and they followed her.
Rapid growth, however, carries its own liabilities. New locations generate construction costs, lease obligations, payroll commitments, and inventory pressures that can outpace revenue even for thriving concepts. That financial friction eventually caught up with the company.
She has also shared how some of her billionaire mentors, like Robert Smith, refused to let her fail. It also seems she if figuring things out on her own.
Cole Hayes has spoken candidly about the lessons that came with it.
The franchise model suggests she absorbed them. Rather than bearing the full capital burden of each new location, Slutty Vegan can now leverage operator investment while retaining brand control — reducing balance-sheet exposure and freeing leadership to focus on what made the brand matter: marketing, community building, and storytelling.
Complicating matters was a controversy involving a former top executive.
Last month, the former CFO of Bar Vegan — Slutty Vegan’s sister concept — was charged in a case involving alleged theft and money laundering. Pinky was not accused of any wrongdoing, and authorities did not allege her involvement. But the case added another layer of scrutiny to the broader brand — making the franchise expansion all the more significant as Cole Hayes works to redirect the narrative toward growth.
