Coffee giant Starbuckshas fallen in popularity, reporting three consecutive quarters of same-store sales declines.
The reasons for these restaurant closures varied.
Read on for the scoop on 20 restaurant chains that closed hundreds of locations in 2024.
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This year, however, has also brought a significant number of store closures to the fast-food giant.
Wendy’s executives announced earlier this fall that they planned toclose 140 locations by the year’s end.
Dickey’s shuttered a net total of 85 restaurants during the period with new openings taken into account.
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The company did not respond to previous queries for confirmation and comment on the additional reported closures.
The reason for these closures?
Executives said that the chosen locations were struggling financially and dragging down the chain’s overall health.
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However, they believe eliminating those underperforming restaurants can strengthen Denny’s as a whole.
It also projected a net decline of 45 to 55 locations across its restaurant brands for 2024.
But even as the high-quality burger chain grew its footprint, it said goodbye to several locations for good.
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This was the first time that Shake Shack shuttered restaurants for reasons unrelated to construction.
Since the start of 2023, two EYM Group subsidiaries that operateBurger KingandPizza Hutlocations have also filed for bankruptcy.
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California, Utah, Michigan, and New York were among the markets impacted by the closures.
The chain plans to continue operations without interruption at its remaining locations during the bankruptcy process.
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BurgerFi
BurgerFi is certainly experiencing its fair share of financial woes in 2024.
In May, Red Lobsterabruptly closed nearly 100 restaurantsamid then-unconfirmed reports that it was considering filing for bankruptcy.
The chain had 570 locations left in operation following the closures.
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Since the bankruptcy filing, Red Lobsterhas been acquiredby the lender Fortress Investment Group.
Rubio’s is now down to 86 locations across California, Arizona, and Nevada.
California now only hasfiveCracker Barrel locations, while South Carolina has23, according to the chain’s website.
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These could open as early as the first quarter of 2025, according toNation’s Restaurant News.
The companyrecently acquired26 Applebee’s restaurants in Florida and Georgia.
TGI Fridays
This year has been a particularly tough one for TGI Fridays.
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It shutteredroughly 50restaurants in 2024 after years of struggles with sales growth and closures.
The bankruptcy only impacts TGI Fridays' 39 company-owned locations, which have secured funding to remain open.
In 2023, the restaurant chain had around 300 restaurants.
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As of March 2024, it’s down to a mere 27 stores, according toRestaurant Business.
The chain has also faced over 150 lawsuits, many of which also revolve around unpaid bills.
In addition to the recent closures, a franchisee shuttered one Atlanta location.
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According to Van Warner, the shuttered restaurants were “underperformers.”
Six of the closures were in North Carolina, which currently has four PDQ locations.
South Carolina no longer has any PDQ stores.
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According to PDQ’swebsite, the chain currently operates 59 locations.
is now acquiring the restaurant brand.
While those closings coincided with the bankruptcy news, they weren’t the first Tijuana Flats closings this year.
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The brand has shuttered a total of 40 restaurants since the start of 2024.
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