Yahoo Lifestyle The Largest Barbecue Chain in the Nation Just Closed 30 More Locations—Here’s What That Means
Following the closure of nearly 100 locations this past fall, Dickey’s Barbecue Pit is gearing up for yet another round of closures amid the new fiscal year. Citing a significant decline in sales, Dickey’s revealed in a franchise disclosure document that a total of 85 additional locations also closed last year. Franchises everywhere have not been immune to the current trend of declining sales, as brands like Eegee’s, TGI Fridays and Red Lobster have found themselves in a similar boat.
Dickey’s is reportedly working hard to “clean up” and strengthen its restaurant system, of which has already been struggling to keep up with the dining trends of today. One step in the restrengthening process involves closing most of the brand's virtual eateries. This requires the brand to end franchise agreements with certain non-compliant locations in order to ensure the right people are placed in charge of running the restaurants.
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"We listened to our operators and we made the strategic decision to strengthen our core before growing again," senior vice president of franchise relations Jeff Gruber said in a statement this past fall.
Post 2008, Dickey’s experienced immense growth, which lasted all the way up to 2017, and peaked at nearly 570 restaurants across the country. In the following years, the company was plagued with a number of disputes involving franchisees, as well as a reduction in sales on top of the massive number of restaurant closures. The system in which Dickey’s operates within has seen a 5.2-percent decrease in the last year alone, according to data from market research firm Technomic.
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As was reported by Restaurant Business Magazine, the brand closed 113 restaurants in 2018, followed by another 140 by 2024. About 28-percent of the store's locations have reportedly closed in just the last 18 months. By the end of May of this year, Dickey’s had 385 locations left under its umbrella, of which the number is still dwindling.
Despite the current state of affairs, the Dickey’s chain is working hard on a new system that should go into effect sometime this fiscal year. A number of changes have been reported on the horizon for the popular BBQ chain, including store upgrade costs, an updated menu, paid advertisements and a 1-percent of sales reimbursement program for operators who experience monthly net-positive sales. Sometimes, it’s necessary to shrink your total footprint in order to make it possible to focus on the fine points that matter most. We look forward to seeing how this restructure fares for the Dickey’s brand.
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