O’Charley’s has shuttered company-owned restaurants across the country, bringing the once-prominent casual-dining chain closer to disappearing after years of contraction.
Employees at multiple restaurants said Wednesday would be their final day, with many locations scheduled to close permanently at 8 p.m. The shutdown came with little warning for workers and without a public explanation from the Nashville-based company.
In O’Charley’s home market, Nashville television station WKRN contacted managers at six of the chain’s eight Middle Tennessee restaurants. They said employees at all eight had been informed that their restaurants would close Wednesday at 8 p.m. The company did not respond to the station’s repeated requests for comment.
NewsChannel 5 in Nashville reported that employees at multiple restaurants were informed Tuesday that Wednesday would be their last day.
The Manchester Times in Manchester, Tennessee, separately spoke with a staff member who said employees received only one day’s notice. The restaurant had operated in the community for nearly 20 years.
In Marion, Illinois, the restaurant’s general manager told local television station KFVS that the O’Charley’s would permanently close at 8 p.m. Wednesday. Employees there were informed of the decision Wednesday morning. The restaurant had been part of the Marion community for 24 years.
In Kentucky, a staff member at the Hopkinsville restaurant confirmed to local radio station WHOP that the location would permanently close Wednesday at 8 p.m. The employee said nearly all O’Charley’s restaurants were expected to shut down.
The two O’Charley’s restaurants in Northern Kentucky, located in Florence and Cold Spring, were also closing.
The closures did not immediately include every restaurant. The franchised O’Charley’s in Niles, Ohio, will remain open until September 27 before permanently closing, according to an employee who spoke with the Columbus Dispatch.
O’Charley’s Facebook and Instagram accounts were deactivated Wednesday, according to several local outlets. Its website, however, remained operational as of Wednesday evening.
At its peak, O’Charley’s grew to nearly 250 restaurants across the U.S. The chain reported 244 locations across 19 states in 2010, including 234 company-owned restaurants and 10 franchised units.
Charlie Watkins founded O’Charley’s in 1971 on 21st Avenue near Vanderbilt University in Nashville. The concept is now majority owned by Cannae Holdings.
