Restaurant closures in 2025: Starbucks and Wendy’s shutter locations

As the restaurant industry continues to face difficult conditions this year, many chain stores have chosen to close unprofitable stores in an effort to rebuild their businesses.

Consumers fed up with inflation have cut back on spending at restaurants and started eating at home or chasing deals when eating out. While some restaurants are attracting reluctant customers, the industry is largely suffering from weak sales. According to Black Box Intelligence, foot traffic to restaurants open for at least a year decreased every month in 2025, with the exception of July.

In recent years, restaurant closings have been clustered across casual dining chains, resulting in the loss of customers to fast-casual competitors such as: chipotle pepper. But this year, chains across the industry announced plans to close at least hundreds of stores.

In this difficult environment, some restaurant companies have filed for bankruptcy protection. Notable brands that have gone to bankruptcy court this year include Hooters, Pinstripes, and On the Border.

The following chains have announced closures in 2025:

In September, the coffee giant announced a $1 billion restructuring plan that included closing about 500 stores in North America. The closures extend to the closing of Reserve Roastery, a high-end cafe in the company’s home base of Seattle.

starbucks The announcement comes on the heels of CEO Brian Nicol’s one-year anniversary at the helm of the company. Under his leadership, Starbucks is trying to reverse a sales slump in the United States, its largest market.

Executives plan to share details about the turnaround at the company’s investor day in New York in late January.

In November, wendy’s announced that it will strategically review its restaurant footprint and begin closing unprofitable locations during the quarter. The company did not release a specific number of closings, but Interim CEO and Chief Financial Officer Ken Cook told analysts that the company could close “a mid-single-digit percentage” of its U.S. restaurants, which would mean closing hundreds of the burger chain’s locations.

The closure is one step in Wendy’s Project Fresh restructuring plan. The company reports same-store sales are declining despite competitors mcdonalds and burger king Demand for Big Macs and Whoppers is likely to increase.

In 2024, Wendy’s will close approximately 140 stores.

In February, Denny’s The company said it plans to close 70 to 90 restaurants by 2025. The diner chain’s sales have slumped in recent months as customers choose cheaper fast-food restaurants for breakfast. The change in behavior led the company to close underperforming locations and attempt to improve its remaining restaurant footprint.

In November, the chain announced it had sold the company for $620 million to Yadav Enterprises, TriArtisan Capital Advisors and Treville Capital Group. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, pending regulatory approval.

In April, jack in the box announced it would close 150 to 200 restaurants as part of its “Jack on Trucks” strategy to improve financial performance. By the end of its 2025 fiscal year on Sept. 28, the chain had permanently closed 86 restaurants.

May, Bahama Breeze Parent Company Darden Restaurants The chain closed 15 stores, roughly a third of its total store footprint.

Following the closure, management determined that a Caribbean-inspired chain was not a strategic priority for Darden, so the company is exploring strategic alternatives for the brand. Options include selling the chain completely or converting the restaurants to other Darden brands, such as Olive Garden. Darden expects to make a decision on Bahama Breeze by the end of the 2026 fiscal year, which ends in May.

Dozens of Hardee’s stores are scheduled to close by the end of the year after the franchisor sued ARC Burger, one of its largest franchisees. Hardee’s alleges that the operating company has defaulted on royalties, rent, taxes and other payments.

ARC, owned by private equity firm High Bluff Capital Partners, operated 77 Hardee’s restaurants before the legal battle began. The trail spread across eight states, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina and Wyoming, according to legal filings.

In the first three quarters of 2025, papa john It has closed 173 restaurants around the world, according to company filings. Most of the closures affected overseas locations, but 62 of the pizza chain’s U.S. locations also closed.

Despite the closures, Papa John’s still had nearly 6,000 restaurants open at the end of September.

At the end of October, Noodles & Co. has closed 29 of its restaurants this year, and executives said they plan to close two to five more underperforming locations by the end of 2025.

In 2024, the fast-casual chain will close 20 stores.

Noodles & Company plans to close an additional 12 to 17 stores by the end of 2026, with the aim of improving financial performance and increasing sales at the chain’s neighborhood stores.

October Food and beverage company bloomin brand The company has closed 21 locations. The closures affected Outback Steakhouse, a gem in the company’s portfolio, as well as Bonefish Grill and Carraba’s Italian Grill.

When executives released the company’s quarterly earnings in November, they said Bloomin’ had identified nearly 20 other restaurants whose contracts would not be renewed at the end of the next four years. At the same time, the company announced a $75 million restructuring plan to improve Bloomin’ sales and overall financial health.