2024 marked a year of major closures for restaurant chains. For some companies, like Red Lobster, TGI Fridays and Rubio’s, these preceded Chapter 11 filings. Other closures, like Denny’s and Wendy’s, targeted underperforming stores to improve overall system performance.
Closures can lead to positive outcomes. With fewer restaurants, consumer demand increases for those that remain, said Dan Rowe, founder and CEO of Fransmart. That could mean better traffic and comparable sales. The empty spaces also provide cheaper second generation real estate for restaurants looking to expand their systems.
Restaurant brands that close weak units can instead devote those resources to improving their existing operations and building modern stores that often perform better. Both Denny’s and Wendy’s are leaning on new prototypes to deliver higher sales and traffic than legacy restaurants, for example.
Check out the industry’s biggest closures from 2024.
