Denny's To Shutter 150 Restaurants By 2025: See RI Locations

RHODE ISLAND — Denny's plans to close 150 U.S. locations by next year, including 50 by the end of 2024, according to multiple reports citing company executives. The chain currently has two locations in Rhode Island.

During an earnings call Tuesday, Denny’s Executive Vice President and Chief Global Development Officer Stephen Dunn said the restaurants slated to close are locations that are too old to remodel or are based in unprofitable locations, USA Today reported.

The company plans to shutter the restaurants to "strengthen its cash flow," reports said.

The closures represent about a tenth of the chain's current restaurants. As of September, the company had 1,586 locations. A specific list of closing restaurants wasn’t immediately announced.
Denny's currently has locations in the following Rhode Island cities:

• Johnston: 1450 Hartford Avenue
• Warwick: 444 Quaker Lane

The chain, known for remaining open around the clock, is also planning to eliminate a requirement for franchisees to keep their doors open 24/7, CNN reported. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, about a quarter of the company's franchisees have not returned to around-the-clock hours.

Dunn said that 24/7 operating hours are a “contraction that happened for everyone” and that less business during those off-peak hours means it “didn’t make sense” for a restaurant to remain open.

During the earnings call, Denny's also reported its fifth straight quarter of year-over-year declines in same-store sales, which are sales at locations open at least a year.

Restaurant inflation is outpacing grocery price inflation, which makes it harder for some customers to justify eating out, Denny's said. And when they do eat out, they often head to fast-casual brands like Chipotle or fast-food chains. Denny's said family dining — the category in which it competes — has lost the most customer traffic since 2020.

Still, Denny's said it has bright spots, including a value menu that lifted sales in its most recent quarter and growing sales of its delivery-only brands like Banda Burrito.

Shares in Denny's Corp., which is based in Spartanburg, South Carolina, tumbled almost 18 percent on Tuesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.