“America’s Diner” With 44 Illinois Locations To Close More Places

You have been hearing phrases like "bankruptcy protection, "underperforming locations," and "slated for closure" for the better part of the last three years, and as you've seen, that doesn't appear to be slowing down at just past the mid-point of 2024.

A list of both restaurant and retail chains that have either closed a bunch of locations or closed them all would be too lengthy for the space I've got here, so let's just take a look at a partial list of some of the eateries that have been dealing with closings, bankruptcies, and underperformance of their locations over the last year. Some have better prospects for recovery than others:

Red Lobster
Cracker Barrel
Applebee's
Boston Market
TGI Fridays
Outback Steakhouse
MOD Pizza
Hooters
Arby's

For many of these companies, closing locations is a last resort for keeping the entire company in business. Some of these places say the closings have stopped, but others still have more locations to permanently close. Like the place that calls itself "America's Diner" and has 44 Illinois locations.

If you check the coffee cup or the waiter's apron, you'll see that it's...(Getty Images)

This place. (Getty Images)

Denny's Closed A Bunch Of Locations In 2022, Closed More In 2023, And Has Already Made Further Closures In 2024--With More To Come

Facing the awful combination of rising costs and falling sales, Denny's, based in Spartanburg, South Carolina, closed 60 restaurant locations in 2022, and then closed 57 more last year in 2023.

Getty Images

Fast forward to the first part of 2024, when Denny's closed 15 more of their spots. Denny's says that the closures took place at their restaurants that were franchises and already at the end of their leases.

But, according to published reports, there will be further closures as the company looks to regain its footing in the marketplace.

NewsNationNow.com:

Denny’s closed 15 restaurants in the second quarter of 2024. Most were franchised outlets whose leases expired. It also expects to close as many as 15 more by the end of this year. According to the industry website Restaurant Dive, Denny’s operated and franchised a record-high 1,735 restaurants in 2017. That number fell to 1,541 at the end of June.