Outback Steakhouse Closing Locations in US; Bonefish Grill, Fleming’s, Other Underperforming Restaurants to Shutdown

Outback Steakhouse, an American casual dining restaurant chain based in Tampa, Florida, is closing out several of its locations in the United States. This comes as its parent company, Bloomin’ Brands, decided to shut down its underperforming restaurants.

Aside from Outback Steakhouse, the restaurant holding company is also closing Bonefish Grill, Fleming’s, and Carrabba’s Italian Grill stores. As per CNN Business, 41 outlets operated by Bloomin’ Brands are affected by the discontinuations.

Outback Steakhouse’s Permanent Closure

Bloomin’ Brands is ending the operations of at least four Bonefish Grill branches, and among the company’s restaurants, Outback Steakhouse was said to have been hit the hardest. The restaurant firm noted during last week’s earnings call that its Australian-themed chain has a lot of stores that are not doing well; thus, it has the most closures.

The company already started to halt the operations of Outback Steakhouse in some states across the U.S. Locals were reportedly surprised to find the stores permanently closed, as this was also done abruptly.

Bloomin’ Brands did not release a list of the closed stores, but local news outlets have been reporting about them. So far, McKnight Road in Pennsylvania and Cedar Rapids in Iowa have confirmed store shutdowns of Outback Steakhouse restaurants nearby. It was added that all branches in Hawaii have also closed, Seafood Source reported.

“Closing restaurants is never easy,” the spokesperson of Bloomin’ Brands’ said in a statement. “This was a business decision that has no reflection on the staff or their service. Many team members will have the opportunity to transfer to open positions at another restaurant and employees who do not will receive severance.”

Main Cause of the Shutdowns

In addition to underperformance, Bloomin’ Brands’ said it decided to shutter some Outback Steakhouse, Bonefish Grill, and others due to various factors. The company cited dropping customer traffic, plunging sales, and costly investment requirements to upgrade the restaurants, especially the older stores.

“This decision considered a variety of factors including sales, traffic-trade areas, and the investment that would have to be made to improve the restaurants,” the company’s chief, David Deno, explained. “Despite this initiative, our confidence in our portfolio remains high as we plan to open 40 to 45 new restaurants across the system in 2024.”

Photo by: Mike Mozart/Flickr(CC BY 2.0)