Denny's is shutting down restaurants around the country. What's behind the closures?

Denny’s may be shutting down some of its restaurants nationwide, but it isn’t the end of the Grand Slam.

The Denny’s closures come after the “America’s diner” chain said in a 2024 investor presentation that it would shutter about 150 underperforming restaurants by the end of this year. The company closed 88 diners last year and reportedly has plans to close between 70 and 90 more. There is no formal tracker for the Denny’s locations that have shut down.

“They said they decided to shut us down due to a lack of sales,” Ashlee Fisher, who managed a Denny’s in North Platte, Neb., which is now closed, told KNOP in October. "We have been struggling to find people willing to work overnight shifts for the last year. They were paying more to keep the store open and not making a profit.”

During an earnings call in August, Denny’s CEO Kelli F. Valade said the closures were part of a “surgical and methodical approach “specifically designed to optimize and enhance the overall health of the franchise system with the goal of returning [from] net flat to positive growth by 2026.”

In early November, the chain also announced that it will be sold for $620 million to a group including private equity firms and its largest franchisee. Denny’s said the closures are unrelated to the pending sale.

“Recent media reports about Denny’s restaurant closures as a result of recent acquisition news are completely false,” Denny’s said in a statement, adding that the majority of planned closures have already taken place. “Denny’s currently has more than 1,300 restaurants in the U.S. and almost 1,500 restaurants worldwide and continues to open new restaurants.”

Some have lamented the closures, with one Redditor noting that the late-night establishment offered valuable “connection” for people who worked the night shift. “Truckers, cops, nurses all shared space there,” they wrote. “Apps can’t fry eggs or pour coffee at 3 AM.”

Another wrote, “We still have ours so far. It's the only restaurant for truckers in 60 miles either [way]. Church people love Denny’s. Lonely people at holiday time go there too.”