Legendary restaurant chain with 1646 locations closes 34 with hundreds of layoffs – but there’s hope on the horizon
A LEGENDARY restaurant chain has reportedly closed 34 locations and had to lay off hundreds of staff in the last year.
Denny’s recently announced it will close a historic location in Washington after the store spent 60 of the chain’s 70-year history serving food.
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The site in Wenatchee, Washington, about two and a half hours east of Seattle, announced it would soon be demolished to make way for a new 2.5-mile two-lane road.
It has been added to the popular chain’s growing list of closure announcements.
As of June 2023, Denny’s operated 1,646 restaurants, according to the latest update available to investors on the chain’s website.
According to Scrape Hero, approximately 34 Denny’s locations have closed their doors since August 2022.
And people are not happy about it.
Many employees at the Wenatchee, Washington location were upset by this and have since commented on the sad news.
“No offense, but the way this has been handled so far, I think, hasn’t been very good or professional,” Wenatchee Denny’s operations manager Brian Predmore told local radio station KPQ.
Predmore told the radio station that he and the crew were surprised by the decision to close the location.
The Denny’s location was built in the mid-1960s and is now considered a historic structure.
More than 15 Denny’s locations have closed since 2020.
This is reportedly due to declining revenue, issues with franchise agreements, or other reasons such as the Wenatchee Diner.
A Denny’s in Bloomington recently closed in March due to debt.
“We weren’t getting any business and it was just getting weaker and weaker as fewer and fewer customers came,” a waiter told the Indiana Daily Student at the time.
However, other Denny’s locations are still making progress.
Some have even added new items to the menu to drive traffic.
A fresh item offered at some Denny’s restaurants is pumpkin pecan pancakes.
The seasonal breakfast item is made with real pumpkin pie filling, glazed pecans and topped with a rich pumpkin pie sauce.
However, customers only have until October 24th to get a taste.
According to Denny’s Investor Relations, it is one of America’s largest full-service restaurants.
The US Sun has reached out to Denny’s for comment.
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