Chipotle is suddenly closing all locations of its Thai restaurant chain
All locations, located in California, Illinois, Maryland, and Washington, DC, will be shuttered by March 17, Nation's Restaurant News reported on Wednesday. A Chipotle spokesperson told NRN that the company has a deal in place to sell the leases of the ShopHouse locations.
Last October, Chipotle announced it would not invest further in growing and developing ShopHouse, and instead would pursue "strategic alternatives" for the chain, which launched in 2011.
Instead of Thai food, Chipotle is focusing on its namesake brand and its two other concepts: a seven-location pizza chain called Pizzeria Locale and a better burger concept called Tasty Made.
ShopHouse's demise comes during a difficult time for Chipotle, as the company is still struggling to grow sales following an E. coli contamination scandal that began in October 2015.