Denny’s to close 150 restaurants, slash hours, menu items amid inflation woes
Denny’s is slimming down.
The budget-friendly, and belly-busting chain, will close 150 underperforming locations over the next year, cut hours of operation and slash its vast menu as financially-pressed diners cut back on spending, the company said Tuesday.
Denny’s, which has about 1,500 locations around the country, will shutter 50 outposts by the end of the year and the remaining 100 in 2025, according to top brass.
The stores that are closing are all “underperforming restaurants” that are either too old to be remodeled or in areas that have become unprofitable, said Denny’s executive vice president Steve Dunn.
They are dragging down the company’s financial performance, he added.
A specific list of closing restaurants weren’t immediately announced.
Denny’s shares plunged 17.6%, to $5.47, on Tuesday.
The chain will whittle down Its menu of 97 items to 46 as more adults order from its kids menu to save money, the Spartanburg, S.C.-based company said.
This summer, the company lit up social media when a diner posted a photo on Reddit of an $18 Lumber Jack Slam – which comes with ham, bacon, sausage, eggs hash browns and toast – a popular breakfast item that was titled “dumblfation.”
Denny’s said it will relax one of its hallmark features – its 24/7 operating hours – recognizing that many of its franchisees can no longer afford to stay open for such an extended period.
About one quarter of its eateries never resumed keeping their doors open 24/7 after the pandemic.
In August, the last remaining Denny’s in San Francisco at 816 Mission St. hear the Union Square section closed.
“We’re the only store left, and we operated until the last day that we could,” owner, Chris Haque told SFGATE at the time.
Haque blamed a rash of dine and dashers for his restaurant’s woes.
He also lamented the fact that a key source of revenue — business conventions — had dried up in recent years due to the tech industry shifting to hybrid work during the pandemic.
