The fast-food restaurant sector faced a difficult year in 2024, as several chains closed hundreds of locations and, in some cases, filed for bankruptcy protection.
The industry isn’t getting any healthier in 2025, as several fast-food chains have revealed store closings this year as well.
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Fast-food burger chain Jack in the Box is the most recent and significant chain to reveal major closings, as it said in April that it plans to close 150-200 underperforming restaurants, most of which have been operating for over 30 years. The chain said it would target closing about 80-120 locations through Dec. 31, 2025.
Related: Popular casual restaurant chain closes over half its locations
Huge Burger King franchisee Consolidated Burger Holdings LLC and two affiliates filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to reorganize their businesses on April 14.
The Destin, Fla.-based Burger King franchisee operates 57 restaurant locations in Florida and Georgia. The company at one time had 75 locations and 1,500 employees, according to the company’s LinkedIn page.
Fast-food burger chains close
Supermarket chain Hy-Vee Inc. closed down all 79 Wahlburgers fast-food franchise locations in its stores in February 2025 with plans to replace them with its own Market Grille restaurants.
The cancelled agreement was a mutual one, as Wahlburgers was not pleased with the performance of the Hy-Vee-operated locations. The in-store Wahlburgers had accounted for only a small portion of the burger chain’s sales, the company’s CEO said.
The Little Mint Inc., the parent company of the Hwy 55 Burger Shakes & Fries restaurant chain, finished 2024 by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Dec. 31, suffering from costs and labor shortages related to the Covid-19 pandemic, which coincided with its brand expansion.
The debtor operated 22 corporate-owned Hwy 55 locations and had 71 franchised locations in the Southeast. It closed 13 corporate-owned locations before it filed for Chapter 11 protection.
Subway closes 100s of locations
Subway, the nation’s largest fast-food chain, has been shrinking in size over the last several years and recorded a net decline of 631 stores in 2024, according to data from Statista that QSR Magazine reported.
Related: Huge burger chain franchisee files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
The popular sandwich chain ended 2024 with 19,502 restaurants in the U.S., while its website says that it has nearly 37,000 locations in over 100 countries.
More bankruptcies:
- Popular restaurant and bar chain files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
- Popular athletic shoe chain files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
- Award-winning cosmetics brand files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Starbucks is the second-largest fast-food chain in the U.S. with about 16,941 stores, according to an Oct. 30 company statement on its fiscal 2024 results.Â
Subway’s U.S. store count decline in 2024 was the company’s largest drop in locations since 2021, when it had a net decline of 1,043. The chain had net store count losses of 443 in 2023 and 571 in 2022.
Subway had net declines of over 1,000 locations in two other years, with 1,601 in 2020, and 1,108 in 2018. It came close to a net loss of 1,000 stores in 2019, with a decline of 996. The company also had large net declines in store counts in 2017 with 866 fewer restaurants, and 2016 with a 357 net decline.
The nine-year run of declining store counts from 2016-2024 amounted to a net decline of 7,616 stores.
Subway’s U.S. store count peaked in 2015 with about 27,118 locations.
Subway completed its sale to private equity firm Roark on April 30, 2024, for reportedly $9.6 billion.
Related: Popular fast-food chain franchisee closes restaurant locations
