Hooters has suddenly shut down numerous locations just a few months after the chicken wing chain filed for bankruptcy, despite stating it wasn’t “going anywhere.”
“After careful consideration of what is needed to best position our company for the future, Hooters made the difficult decision to close certain company-owned locations,” a company spokesperson said in a statement to CNN.
The company did not release a specific list of closures, but local reports indicate that around 30 locations were affected, including several in Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.
The company said that it’s “here to stay, and by optimizing our business in support of our long-term goals, Hooters will be well-positioned to continue our iconic legacy under a pure franchise business model.”
The 42-year-old chain, best known for its orange-clad, all-female wait staff, filed for bankruptcy in March. Hooters is selling all of its 100 company-owned restaurants to two franchisee groups that operate Hooters locations in the Tampa, Florida, and Chicago areas.
However, the closures aren’t a complete surprise since the chain said it was “evaluating the company’s operational footprint” for its company-owned locations, which would result in a reduction of its footprint. Hooters also closed dozens of locations prior to bankruptcy in early 2024.
Hooters’ changes follow the closures of 15 locations of Bahama Breeze, a restaurant chain owned by Darden Restaurants. These chains typically cater to lower and middle-income families looking for a sit-down meal, but diners are abandoning these companies as their disposable income shrinks because of inflation.
Consumer sentiment has been free-falling in recent months, and in May remained at a near-record low, according to the University of Michigan’s closely watched indicator of how people are feeling about the economy.
Closing “poorly performing units can be better for the chain overall than trying to fix them” because pouring resources into rescuing the those locations can “undermine the entire chain,” according to Maeve Webster, president of consulting firm Menu Matters.
“It’s similar to rationalizing a menu: Better to eliminate items that aren’t selling or rarely selling to improve the quality and consistency of what remains,” she recently told CNN.
TGI Fridays, which aims to exit bankruptcy this summer, has also gradually closed locations while it navigates Chapter 11. The chain recently relaunched its menu for its remaining 85 US locations in hopes of sparking people’s attention.
