By ChinRes 
Over the course of the previous year, Denny’s was forced to close 57 of its locations as a result of rising operating expenses. As of right now, the restaurant chain is making preparations to shut down an even larger number of its establishments in an effort to improve the infrastructure as a whole.
In a meeting with investors that took place this week, Denny’s disclosed its intention to close around 150 locations, which is equivalent to approximately ten percent of the company’s total number of units. According to a story in Restaurant Business Magazine, executives stated that the locations that were shutting had a difficult time performing financially and were having a detrimental influence on the broader chain’s health.
About half of the approximately 150 sites are scheduled to close by the end of 2024, while the remaining locations are scheduled to stop providing services to clients permanently in 2025.
In conjunction with the publication of its most recent quarterly profit reports on October 22nd, Denny’s made the news that it would be closing its restaurants. During the third quarter, the restaurant chain experienced a reduction of 0.1% in same-store sales, as well as the launch of two new restaurants and the remodeling of six existing restaurants.
For the month of September, Denny’s announced that it had 1,586 restaurants open for business, which is a decrease from the 1,603 locations it had as of the end of June of this year. It may be deduced from this that a total of seventeen Denny’s restaurants shut their doors during the latest quarter.
A decrease in consumer traffic has been observed across the restaurant business, notably among family dining companies, according to CEO Kelli Valade, who made this observation during the investor conference that took place this week.
Through an analysis of its domestic sites, Denny’s came to the realization that the fifth of its restaurants that are experiencing the greatest amount of difficulty—which are often older and located in regions with shifting consumer habits—have been causing harm to the rest of the business.
Denny’s maintains that closing down stores that are not functioning well is really the most beneficial course of action for the firm as a whole, despite the fact that closing restaurants may appear to be paradoxical for a corporation that is striving to revitalize itself.
Valade was quoted as saying, “We believe that this is absolutely the right thing to do in order to make our system stronger,” as reported by Restaurant Business Magazine.
Additionally, Denny’s is making headway on a number of other tactics in order to revitalize its brand and performance. These efforts include shutting shops that are not operating well. During the conference, Chief Development Officer Steve Dunn provided a sneak peek at the plans for a significant remodeling project that would be undertaken to update the appearance of aged stores and give them a more uniform appearance.
Denny’s also intends to continue developing its menus and concentrating on its three virtual restaurant brands, which the firm claims have generated a total of $77 million in sales at this point. These brands include Burger Den, the Meltdown, and Banda Burritos.
A total of thirty to forty consolidated restaurant openings are anticipated by Denny’s for the entire fiscal year of 2024. This will include twelve to sixteen new sites for Keke’s Breakfast Cafe, which is another brand that is part of the company’s portfolio. It is anticipated that the company would have a net decrease of 45 to 55 sites across all of its restaurant brands.