
Major Burger Chain Abruptly Closes 79 Locations — Here’s What Happened
Hy-Vee grocery stores are more than just grocery stores. More than 200 of their locations feature a restaurant on the premises. Seventy-nine of those restaurants were Wahlburgers, and the rest are their Market Grille concept.
After grocery shopping, you could pop into the Wahlburgers location and grab some fries and a burger before heading home.
That is coming to an end, though.
On Tuesday (Jan. 21), Hy-Vee announced that they will be closing all 79 Wahlburgers locations inside their stores in favor of their own Market Grille concept returning.
This takes a huge chunk out of the Wahlburgers footprint. When you included these locations, Wahlburgers had 109 locations, according to Restaurant Business Online. This move will bring the Wahlburgers footprint down to around 40.
Wahlburgers didn't mince words when speaking about the closures. CEO Randy Sharpe says flatly that these Hy-Vee locations were underperforming and didn't account for a large portion of Wahlburgers sales.
"We are growing restaurants," Sharpe explains. "We’re not going to be in the grocery business."
Sharpe adds that the chain wants to focus more on its actual restaurants, rather than what were essentially kiosks in grocery stores.
"It's best that everyone stay in what their skillsets are and move on."
It seems like with all of the equipment and everything in place, the switch will happen rather quickly. Hy-Vee is said to have all Wahlburgers restaurants cleared out of their locations by February 4.
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