New York
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Bahama Breeze, the Caribbean-themed eating chain, is shutting down after a 30-year stint within the enterprise.
Darden Restaurants, which additionally owns Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, introduced Tuesday that it’s closing the remaining 28 places within the coming months, with half of them shutting down utterly and half being transformed into different chains that its father or mother firm owns.
The closure comes practically a yr after Bahama Breeze abruptly shut one-third of its places and Darden saying it was contemplating strategic options for the model, together with a attainable sale.
The closing day of operations for Bahama Breeze will probably be April 5, with places closing in Delaware, Georgia, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, in addition to two in Pennsylvania and 5 in Florida.
Darden is changing the remaining 14 places, together with 10 round Orlando, Florida, to different manufacturers over the following 12 to 18 months, however hasn’t revealed which particular chain it should change to. A full listing is available here and they’ll function as a Bahama Breeze till then.
“The company believes the conversion locations are great sites that will benefit several of the brands in its portfolio,” it mentioned in a press launch. “Going forward, the primary focus will continue to be on supporting team members, including placing as many as possible in roles within the Darden portfolio.”
Some restaurant chains that cater to lower- and middle-income households have been struggling over the previous few years as a result of diners are abandoning them as their disposable revenue shrinks as a result of of inflation. Consumer confidence is additionally slumping.
However, some informal chains are doing properly, together with different Darden manufacturers like Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse. In the corporate’s most up-to-date earnings report, each of these chains reported optimistic same-store gross sales will increase as shoppers looked for worth.
Darden’s (DRI) inventory has jumped 8% thus far this yr.