Denny’s to close 150 of its restaurants over the next year. Here’s what we know
Denny’s has announced that it will close 150 of its restaurants.
The company will close 50 locations by the end of this year, with another 100 closing in 2025, according to information shared Tuesday during the company’s Investor Day 2024 presentation.
“It’s never easy to close restaurants. It’s a challenge and you work with external factors, landlords and the like. And of course you’re dealing with people’s lives,” said Steve Dunn, executive vice president and chief global development officer for Denny’s.
“But we realized that closing underperforming restaurants is strategically advantageous to a number of our franchisees as it strengthens the bottom line cash flow for the long term,” he said.
It is not yet known if any locations in the metro-east will be among those that will close.
Area Denny’s locations include:
737 W. Highway 50, O’Fallon, 618-622-0471;
1130 S. Illinois St., Belleville, 618-277-1360;
522 Ramada Blvd., Collinsville, 618-345-8995;
27 Junction Drive, Glen Carbon, 618-659-1922;
1310 E. Chain of Rocks Road, Pontoon Beach, 618-797-1684;
959 IL-3, Waterloo, 618-939-1700.
An email inquiry sent to Denny’s media relations regarding a list of area locations slated to close received the following response:
“Closing a restaurant is a challenging decision, one that impacts not only the team members but also the guests and local community. We work closely with our owners and their teams; Denny’s does not provide advance notice of closures to media.”
About Denny’s
Denny’s got its start in 1953 when Harold Butler and Richard Jezak opened Danny’s Donuts in Lakewood, California, according to the Denny’s website.
Jezak’s left in 1956, and Butler turned one of the donut shop locations into a coffee shop, renaming it Danny’s Coffee Shops. It was open 24 hours.
Butler changed the name to Denny’s Coffee Shops in 1959 to avoid confusion with Coffee Dan’s, another restaurant in Los Angeles. Denny’s Coffee Shops became Denny’s in 1961.
Denny’s Corporation is based in Spartanburg, South Carolina. As of Sept. 25, its holdings include 1,586 restaurants (1,514 franchised and licensed; 72 company operated).
The restaurants consist of two brands: Denny’s and Keke’s Breakfast Café, which Denny’s acquired in July 2022. As of Sept. 25, Denny’s has 1,525 global restaurants (1,464 franchised and licensed; 61 company operated), and Keke’s has 61 (50 franchised; 11 company operated).
For more information, visit dennys.com.
