O'Charley's closes its company restaurants after 55 years

O'Charley's closes all of its remaining company-owned restaurants, the casual-dining chain's operations ending on Wednesday 9 September, according to Nation's Restaurant News and local broadcasters.

The chain is based in Nashville, Tennessee, and is owned by Cannae Holdings, according to Nation's Restaurant News. Staff at sites in several states told local television stations they were informed on Tuesday that their restaurants would close permanently at 8pm on Wednesday. Fox Chattanooga reported that the shutdown ends a 55-year run for the brand.

Underground Chuck's, a spin-off concept operated by the same company, also closed, according to the same reports. WSB-TV in Atlanta reported that restaurants in its area were among those affected.

A chain that closes without a statement leaves its staff to explain it.

What the company has said since O'Charley's closes

Nation's Restaurant News reported that O'Charley's had disabled its social media accounts and had not responded to multiple requests for comment. Neither the company nor Cannae Holdings had issued a public statement on the closures at the time of writing, and no figure for the number of employees affected had been released.

Franchised O'Charley's restaurants are operated by separate businesses, according to the trade reports, and some could continue trading. Customers holding gift cards and reservations had not been given guidance in any company statement seen by this desk.

A chain that has been shrinking since 2016

O'Charley's operated close to 250 restaurants at its peak in the 2000s, according to Nation's Restaurant News, and has closed sites steadily since 2016. The brand changed hands several times over that period, and Cannae Holdings has reported it within its restaurant portfolio.

The closures come in a month in which several United States casual-dining operators reported further site reductions. Nation's Restaurant News reported on the same day that Denny's had closed five more restaurants in Minnesota and Wisconsin. In New York, Double Zero closed after twelve years in the East Village this week, and in the United Kingdom Whitbread closed 106 Beefeater restaurants.

No date has been given for any statement on redundancies, supplier payments or the future of the brand. Reporting on the closures continues to rely on staff accounts and local coverage.