15 fast-food and restaurant chains you might see less of in 2021

As Business Insider's Irene Jiang previously reported, "The burger chain has been struggling for the last several years, 'temporarily' closing over a hundred locations and hemorrhaging millions of dollars as sales plummet."

Subway closed more stores than it opened in 2016, and it closed more than 900 stores in 2017. Some have estimated the chain will be closing a similar number of branches as it did in 2019 by the end of 2020.

In August 2019, David W. Gibbs, then president and chief operating and financial officer of Yum! Brands, which operates Pizza Hut, told Nation's Restaurant News, "Our US store count could drop to as low as 7,000 locations over the next 24 months primarily driven by closures of underperforming dine-in restaurants before rebounding to current levels and above in the future."

According to Restaurant Business, "Burger King executives said the company plans to close 200 to 250 low-volume locations per year over the next couple of years."

On May 12, MassLive reported that a Burger King in Springfield, Massachusetts, closed its doors after 46 years in business.

Applebee's plans to increase delivery and takeout options, which are already boosting sales, according to The Wall Street Journal.

TGI Friday's management told Today, "As part of the early stages of our business turnaround, we bought underperforming franchises, which creates a temporary loss of near term profit, including store closures."

Friendly's has seen a 25% decline in its restaurants in the past two years. A spokesperson told Mashed that the closures were due to "shifting consumer demographics."

On February 9, a Friendly's in Rochester, New Hampshire, closed. It was the last one in the Seacoast Region.

According to Mashed, Perkins split with its partner, Marie Callender's Inc., in 2019. It is now partnered with Huddle House, another fast-casual restaurant chain.

Restaurant industry analyst Darren Tristano told the Asbury Park Press, "[Ruby Tuesday] has been in trouble for years and having to shut down your restaurants and having declines in restaurant sales is really a challenge to get past. Unfortunately, restaurants like Ruby Tuesday are going to see a lot of closures this year and continuing."

ABC News reported on May 12 that one Fuddruckers in North Carolina, which was temporarily shut down due to the pandemic, permanently closed.

According to MoneyWise, Red Robin said its 2019 closures were due to the decline of America's malls; seven of the 10 closed locations were in malls.

According to Restaurant Business, Red Robin's same-store sales fell 65.2% for the week that ended April 12, 2020.

The fast-casual dining chain has faced financial trouble since as far back as 1998, when it filed for bankruptcy. It has also had falling sales for the past two years. According to Mashed, Boston Market's then CEO, Frances Allen, said last year that the closures were necessary in order for the company to have a shot at surviving in the long-term.

On May 18, ARLnow reported that a Boston Market in Arlington, Virginia, permanently closed.

Last July, Luby's, which also owns Fuddruckers and Cheeseburger in Paradise, closed several restaurants to try and pay off debt, according to Mashed.

In November 2019, CEO Chris Pappas said, "We are not pleased with our shareholder value, same-store sales, guest traffic results, or corporate overhead."

In March, Luby's temporarily closed 35 restaurants.

According to NBC, the company said that the 19 restaurants were underperforming and that they had $4.2 million in pre-tax operating losses.

Though the closures won't amount to much, as there are still 7,116 Taco Bell locations in the United States, residents of Kodiak, Alaska, will no longer be seeing the taco chain near their homes.

• Read more:
  
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