As soon as upon a time, Outdated Nation Buffet used dominated the American buffet scene. You’d see them in strip malls and households have been the principle prospects. These days, you received’t be capable of discover any Outdated Nation Buffet areas nonetheless in enterprise.
Why did the Outdated Nation Buffet exit of enterprise? The chain went by quite a few bankruptcies main as much as the well being disaster in 2020 that was the ultimate nail within the coffin for the model. The Outdated Nation Buffet model is now owned by an umbrella firm that has publicly said they haven’t any plans to attempt to reinvigorate the model. On this article, I’m going into much more element in regards to the gradual and sudden deterioration of the Outdated Nation Buffet Model.
Did Outdated Nation Buffet File for Chapter?
The quick reply to that is that sure, Outdated County Buffet filed for chapter many occasions. Not as soon as, not even twice, however a 3rd and fourth time as properly.
Outdated Nation Buffet, which was as soon as thought of to be a well-liked buffet restaurant with over 600 areas has gone by a number of ownerships, bankruptcies, and even controversies. The restaurant was owned by Buffets Inc and began in 1984. They filed for Chapter 11 chapter in 2008, 2012, and 2016 with the latter citing that they confronted excessive prices from coping with a lawsuit.
Line up for the buffet.
Then got here the pandemic which was arduous on the meals companies particularly buffets and in 2021, Outdated Nation Buffet filed for one more chapter.
Jason Kemp, CEO of VitaNova Manufacturers who was serving to Outdated Nation Buffet with their financing stated this in his assertion: “As with virtually each considered one of our friends, buffet eating places took the brunt of the lack of gross sales in the course of the pandemic and as such, the trail to success requires arduous selections to be made, together with the rationalization of our general footprint.”
In fact, Outdated Nation Buffet wasn’t the one chain to expertise challenges throughout this time interval. Backyard Recent Eating places, the mastermind behind Souplantation and Candy Tomatoes, filed for chapter and closed store in 2020 as properly. Why, you ask? The corporate has been bleeding a few cool $1 million per week on the time chapter was filed. Ouch!
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CEO John Haywood, in a heartfelt chat, talked about how he tried each trick within the e book to maintain the 4,400-strong workforce. However alas, with the FDA giving a thumbs-down to salad bars and buffets, and states like Georgia following go well with, the long run seemed as bleak as a salad with out dressing. In any case, how do you run a buffet chain when buffets are off the menu?
Souplantation, which first sprouted in San Diego in 1978, and its sibling Candy Tomatoes, have been the go-to spots for recent soups, pastas, pizzas, and naturally, these legendary salad bars. However as they are saying, all good issues (and scrumptious buffets) should come to an finish. Followers have taken to Twitter, sharing their grief with crying tomatoes and heartfelt messages. One fan lamented, “First sports activities, then child showers, and now Candy Tomatoes? This virus owes me massive time!”
We noticed first hand the influence of Souplantation in our neighborhood as properly. I can verify that shortly after the well being disaster hit a long-time location in Temecula, Calif., rapidly shuttered their doorways after a long time in enterprise. This location was close to a shopping center and off the busiest road on the town. However location didn’t matter. The idea wasn’t capable of function, closed down, and by no means opened once more.
Did Outdated Nation Buffet Shut in Illinois?
There are not any extra Outdated Nation Buffet areas within the nice state of Illinois. The Outdated Nation Buffet at 6560 W. Fullerton Ave. in Chicago was thought of the final Illinois Outdated Nation Buffet. It was reported that they closed down in 2020 in the course of the pandemic.
However even earlier than COVID-19 crashed the occasion, gross sales have been on the decline for this buffet chain. Simply take a look at the numbers: buffet gross sales plummeted by 55% as of August 2020, whereas the general restaurant business noticed a decline of 9.5%. Outdated Nation Buffet cited challenges in renewing leases on favorable phrases and is now pivoting to a eating mannequin that doesn’t rely closely on buffets.
Are there any Outdated Nation Buffet Areas in Minnesota?
As far again as 2016, there was just one remaining Outdated Nation Buffet location in all the state of Minnesota. The final location had run, however in early 2020, the final remaining location at 14150 Nicollet Ave, Burnsville, MN 55337 was completely closed.
It’s significantly unhappy to see there are not any lively Outdated Nation Buffet areas within the state because the firm was based in Minnesota again in 1983. The businesses company headquarters was additionally positioned in Eagan, Minnesota, till 2012.
This was the final remaining Outdated Nation Buffet location in Burnsville, MN. The situation completely closed in 2020.
Are there any Outdated Nation Buffets Nonetheless Open?
There are now not any Outdated Nation Buffet areas nonetheless working. Primarily based on experiences from the present possession, CEO Jeff Crivello confirmed, “Now we have no rapid plans to reopen any of the buffet manufacturers.” This contains Outdated Nation Buffet so don’t anticipate this chain to re-emerge anytime quickly.
BBQ Holdings, the powerhouse behind Well-known Dave’s, just lately acquired Recent Acquisitions, which owned a number of buffet manufacturers, together with Outdated Nation Buffet, HomeTown Buffet, and Ryan’s. Nonetheless, the actual gem on this acquisition was the five-unit Tahoe Joe’s steakhouse chain.
I carried out numerous analysis for this text and couldn’t discover a single Outdated Nation Buffet areas that’s nonetheless open. I even direct messaged outdated Fb accounts and emailed totally different areas. I didn’t get any responses suggesting that the areas are now not in enterprise.
Who owns Outdated Nation Buffet?
As talked about earlier, BBQ Holdings holds the mental property (IP) for the Outdated Nation Buffet model. They publicly said there are not any plans to deliver again the buffet chain and it seems like they acquired the IP virtually on accident.
BBQ Holdings paid out $5.2 million to amass Tahoe Joe’s, a steakhouse chain in California. The corporate sees potential in co-branding Tahoe Joe’s with its flagship Well-known Dave’s model, mixing the smoky flavors of each. This co-branding strategy aligns with BBQ’s technique, as they’ve beforehand mixed Well-known Dave’s with different eating places, like Texas T-Bone Steakhouse and Johnny Carino’s Italian eating places. As a part of this acquisition, BBQ Holdings ended up getting the Outdated Nation Buffet IP as a part of the package deal.
Sadly, Outdated Nation Buffet is now not open wherever. Primarily based on all of the obtainable info, it doesn’t seem to be this can change any time quickly.
