Large Town's Lone McDonald's Ceases Operations: Report

WEST HARTFORD, CT — With a diverse dining and fast food scene, West Hartford has many, many options to fill one's stomach and quench one's thirst.

But finding a place to get a Big Mac and fries now requires a trip outside town.

According to CT Insider Wednesday, the West Hartford McDonald's — located at Bishops Corner at 2534 Albany Ave. in a busy commercial center — is now closed.

A phone call to the listed number for the restaurant rang endlessly, then abruptly hung up to the sound of an old "handshake" noise often heard when logging onto the Internet in the 1990s.

Unlike most McDonald's restaurants, the West Hartford location was not a freestanding store.

Rather, it was located in a shopping center that is also home to a Dunkin' Donuts, Panera Bread and a Supercuts hair salon, among other businesses.

As such, it did not have a drive-through, which is considered a vital source of revenue for many fast-food restaurants.

If a West Hartford resident gets a Big Mac attack these days, he or she will have to travel to Hartford, where there are six of them, or to nearby New Britain, one, and Bloomfield, one.

Local resident Candice Kardulis said she noticed something different at the McDonald's last month when she took her children there for ice cream.

"I went to Bishops Corner McDonald's today with my kids for a quick ice cream treat, where I was met with a quick sorry ma'am and a look of dismay," Kardulis recounted.

"I looked around and noticed there were no staff and the manager, also the cashier, stated the store didn't have equipment any longer and that it would be closed in the next week," Kardulis wrote to Patch.

"He also stated he didn't know if a McDonald's or something else would be in its place in the future."

She said she's hopeful a new operation will occupy the old McDonald's space, perhaps another prominent fast-food eatery.

McDonald's officials could not be reached for comment, but Kardulis said the manager she spoke to speculated the closure had to do with difficulties finding staff.

'My level of disappointment comes from the reason it is closing. As the manager stated, no one wants to work, but could it be the level of pay doesn't match the cost of living?" she said Wednesday.

Staffing issues have plagued the restaurant industry since the pandemic and that, combined with supply chain/inflation issues, has simply made the business of serving food more difficult for restaurateurs, whether mom-and-pop operations or big chain franchises.

For the full CT Insider report, click on this link.

For a list of McDonald's restaurants near West Hartford, click on this link.