Year Established: 1934
Estimated Branch Closures: 60 Branches
With over 21,000 employees, Steak ‘n Shake is one of America’s largest and most successful casual burger chains. It operates all across the United States, but also has branches in Europe and the Middle East. The company was originally founded in 1934 by Gus Belt, and its headquarters are currently located in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Steak ‘n Shake has over 600 restaurants, but will be temporarily closing 60 branches this year due to underperformance. Unfortunately, the company has already made some cutbacks, including permanently closing down one of its branches at Quebec and County Line Road. If you’re a fan of the fast-food chain, you may want to get a bite today, before things go from bad to worse.
Kona Grill
Year Established: 1998
Estimated Branch Closures: 42 Branches
While fast food restaurants are the leading types of food stores in the United States, there are some successful ethnic food brands as well. Kona Grill is an American cuisine, sushi, and cocktails restaurant, which currently owns and operates around 40 branches.
The sushi restaurant was originally opened in late 1998, and began expanding after a successful initial public opening which made almost $30 million. Despite its initial popularity, the company has since began losing over tens of millions of dollars on an annual basis, until they eventually filed for bankruptcy in early 2019.
Jack In the Box
Year Established: 1951
Estimated Branch Closures: 14 Branches
Competing against ever-popular chains like McDonald’s and Burger King, Jack in the Box has never achieved the notoriety of its fast food peers. Many of the branches are losing money, with about 300 of the total 2,200 locations bringing in less than $1 million per year in annual sales.
The operating costs for this fast food joint just can’t keep up with the declining revenue, leading to 14 branch closures with more expected to follow in the coming months. Unfortunately, Jack might be on his deathbed, especially if sales don’t turn around sometime soon.
Boston Market
Year Established: 1985
Estimated Branch Closures: 45 Branches
Boston Market was once known as Boston Chicken, and specializes in rotisserie chicken. In their website, they claim they are "the rotisserie experts since 1985," and mostly base their dishes on chicken. Boston Market sells fresh chicken, and guarantees that these were never frozen, had no antibiotics, and lack any added hormones and steroids.
At its peak, Boston Market had about 460 locations and 14,000 employees. Although these stats have slightly gone down in recent years. Nevertheless, the chicken brand has managed to maintain almost 100% of its locations and employees. In fact, they are currently making plans to expand into the Middle East.
Dairy Queen
Year Established: 1940
Estimated Branch Closures: 70 Branches
While Dairy Queen is known for its ultra-thick ice cream mixes, the Blizzard alone hasn’t been enough to keep the company’s profits in the green. In 1987, both Dairy Queen and Orange Julius were purchased by a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s company, Berkshire Hathaway.
The 1987 sale provided the chain restaurant with a strong parent company to rely on, but high operating costs eventually forced the company to file for bankruptcy in 2017. Branch closures have been the norm since then, as Dairy Queen struggles to improve its profit margins.