The CEO of Burger King’s parent company, Restaurant Brands International Inc., said this week that the company plans to close 300 to 400 outlets. During a conference call to discuss first-quarter earnings, CEO Joshua Kobza said the company is “historically” closing “a few hundred” Burger King stores a year.
Several prominent Burger King franchisees have already filed for bankruptcy this year, including Toms King in Illinois, EYM King in Michigan and Meridian Restaurants Unlimited in Utah.
124 Burger Kings have already closed this year, according to a Restaurant Brands International announcement announcing the earnings, bringing the total number in the United States to less than 7,000. On the call, Kobza said that to “improve overall health of the company’s franchise system, the company intends to focus on working with smaller franchisees.
According to him, the company intends to leave only top-notch restaurateurs who will operate locally and with regional ownership to establish new restaurants or buy existing ones.
The willingness of our franchisees, who own several restaurants, to collaborate with us and make the necessary changes is one of the most crucial elements, he said.
A “good degree of uncertainty about the exact numbers” of upcoming closures, Kobza said. He said: “It will depend, in part, on the speed of recovery in the industry, which we have already begun to see. The company has not provided a more detailed timeline or specified which stores will close. Despite the closures , Burger King US claimed an 8.7% increase in sales.