Struggling restaurant chain likely to shut down or be sold
The chain's owner has already closed about one third of its locations.
Sometimes, the small things get lost when owned by a large company.
In multiple cases, Chipotle shut down nascent brands because it seemed impossible for them to grow to a point where they materially impacted earnings. That's also partially why McDonald's sold its stake in Chipotle, well before the Mexican chain became the giant it has grown into.
McDonald's itself recently closed down its CosMc's experiment because it made more sense to integrate some of that chain's beverage menu into the core brand rather than growing another chain.
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It's hard to be a small brand at a company that owns multiple larger brands, because it's not worth it for management to focus efforts on your growth. When a company owns multiple major restaurant chains with high growth potential, it may not be the right owner for a smaller, more niche chain.
