Year Established: 1964
Estimated Branch Closures: 36 Branches
Tim Hortons is Canada’s largest quick service restaurant chain. The coffee and doughnut chain has almost 5,000 restaurants as of 2019, and has its headquarters in Toronto, Ontario. It was eventually purchased by Burger King for $11.4 billion, which tried to renovate its locations and improve its revenues.
The company has been involved in various controversies over the years, including recently cutting employees benefits and using far too many plastic cups for any environmentalists’ taste, and that’s just to name a few. Tim Hortons recently had to close down four underperforming locations in Dayton, Ohio, and is estimated to close an additional 36 throughout the year.
Olive Garden
Year Established: 1982
Estimated Branch Closures: 17 Branches
The ultimate destination for soft, chewy bread sticks, Olive Garden is a casual Italian joint serving a large variety of pasta, salads, soups, and more. While the restaurant is undoubtedly affordable, its profits have taken a hit in recent years. A restructuring plan aimed to revamp the restaurant’s design and add healthier options to the menu, but it wasn’t enough to stop the closure of 17 branches last year.
In addition to closing branches, Olive Garden is also turning to online ordering to help cut their costs. While they’re fighting to stay in business, their popularity continues to decline.
Quiznos
Year Established: 1981
Estimated Branch Closures: 1000 Branches
Quiznos is a franchised fast food chain that focuses on toasted sub sandwiches. The company was once one of the largest food providers in the United States, with almost 5,000 locations to its name. However, it has since lost much of its success, and ended up closing over 90% of its locations in the span of a decade.
Today, the chain has only a few hundred locations left, and continues to close more and more every year. Quiznos first filed for bankruptcy in early 2014, and emerged from the procedure with about $400 million in debt. The company took a second try at success and is currently attempting to expand internationally into various countries, in hopes of opening a few hundred branches by the end of 2020.
Houlihan’s
Year Established: 1972
Estimated Branch Closures: 12 Branches
A high-end restaurant focused on classic American fare, Houlihan’s believes in serving high-quality food and drinks in a casual environment. With a range of food offerings and a full bar, this restaurant chain was poised to be successful.
In November 2019, however, Houlihan’s filed for bankruptcy. The announcement was followed by the closure of 12 branches, leaving the company with only 44 remaining branches spread across 17 states. In December 2019, Houlihan’s Restaurant Inc. was purchased by Landry’s Inc. The future of the operation under new leadership is unclear.
Ruby Tuesday
Year Established: 1972
Estimated Branch Closures: 135 Branches
Ruby Tuesday is one of the most popular casual dining chains in the United States, due to (or despite) sharing its name with the iconic Rolling Stones song. The eatery is a major competitor with TGI Fridays and Applebee's, and currently has just over 450 locations. There has been a stark increase in locations closed throughout the past few years, as the chain used to hold almost a 1,000 branches open at its peak.
Since 2016, more than 120 of its locations have been closed, and it looks like the trend is only accelerating. Ruby Tuesday’s executive staff credits the loses to various income-related problems, but believes these branch closures will help them in the long run. We hope so too, as some competition in the industry can only benefit us, the consumers.