Posted on 05/03/2024 5:56:13 AM PDT by Red Badger
(Epic Economist)—Over the past four years, many of us have had the unpleasant surprise of learning that our go-to restaurant, coffee shop, or fast food joint was closing doors for good. Thousands of well-established companies have gone out of business since the pandemic accelerated the descent of the U.S. economy, and conditions have been particularly tough in the restaurant industry. Even during the best of times, managing a restaurant comes with plenty of uncertainty. Though a brand can be incredibly popular amongst consumers, there’s a variety of factors that can result in mass closings, and in some cases, bankruptcy.
We tend to think that the biggest restaurant chains in America are better prepared to handle these challenges, but the truth is that many of them are, in fact, more exposed to financial problems due to their enormous expenses and extensive brick-and-mortar footprint.
Both inflation and deflation can cause drastic changes in consumer behavior, leading to lost sales and rendering some locations regrettably unprofitable. On top of that, something most people do not know is that, despite being backed by huge corporate entities, lots of restaurants have been struggling to stay afloat for quite a long time, and recent developments have just been the last straw for them.
That’s why a considerable number of chains is closing multiple locations right now. While for some this is goodbye forever, for others, the closings are necessary to restore the health of their business. Executives are citing issues like underperformance and slowing foot traffic, as well as broader concerns about the strength of the American buying power over the long run, as some of the reasons behind the latest closures. Meanwhile, other companies are simply shuttering locations suddenly and without warning, leaving customers and even employees wondering what went wrong.
Here’s the list:
* Cracker Barrel
* Applebee’s
* TGI Friday’s
* Denny’s
* Boston Market
* MOD Pizza
* Hooters
* Carrabba’s Italian Grill
* Hardee’s
* Tijuana Flats
* Noodles & Company
* Krystal
* White Castle
* Bagger Dave’s
* Chili’s
Shutting down in our area.
TGI Friday’s expected me to download a QR code and pay the bill online, manually entering all of my card info. Then they got snippy when I told them my tip was 30% less than I had planned since I had to do some of the work.
Well...bye
Cracker Barrel went all Pride month and doubled down when their actual clientele complained. I haven’t been back. I figure they can just service the gays now.
The last time I ate at Crapplebees was about 15 yrs ago when it was the only restaurant in the small town we overnighted in.
They BURNED the chicken to a crisp and covered it with cheese, thinking we wouldn’t notice. Then, when I went to the ladies room before we left, there was an Hispanic Crapplebees’ worker taking to someone on her phone in the bathroom stall and came out with her plastic gloves still on her hands and dribbled plain water on the glove tips, not even bothering to remove the gloves or use soap.
Thanks for posting. Interesting.
Government should force them to stay open!!!! /s
The only one I ever liked from that list was Boston Market.
Where are the ol’ folks gonna hang out during the day now?
They come to one mid morning get some breakfast then move
to another and hang out until mid afternoon or so. IMO they
were interesting to talk to get their perspective of history
during their earlier years.
I try to avoid chain restaurants and go to local mom and pop spots.
That’s true. They will probably end up at McDonald’s. We have a huge retired population that goes there every mid morning for coffee and share stories.
The best restaurants are the ones with the owner/boss working at the restaurant.
We don’t have one of those in Florida.........
I was just going to post that!
I hadn’t been to Cracker Barrel in a coon’s age and decided to stop by and have dinner with my family.
Even the cinnamon apples were bad! How do you mess up mac and cheese?!?
They had also set up a brand new bar right next to the Hostess station and were trying to liquor people up so they’d enjoy the food!
Apparently Boston Market got sued for not paying their employees in Florida.
Yep, they cut and run...................
I’m guessing that if you took away the ability to be able to use EBT cards, at these chains, many would be able to make a come back.
Just a thought.
Obviously there are other chains that are doing well. But oh well, everyone is trying to sell an apocalyptic story now.
The only “greedy” player in this scenario is the GOVERNMENT with their minimum wage and suffocating regulations.
When gov’t wins, we lose. When we win, gov’t loses.
It’s just that simple.
I feel bad when I read the list of all these places closing and then I realized neither I or my family ever patronize any of them so I'm partly the reason why.
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