A number of Hooters restaurants are closing down across the country and Tennessee seems to be spared for the most part.
Closures at Hooters locations were reported over the weekend. In a statement to USA TODAY, the chain said a “select number” of restaurants will shutdown due to “pressure from current market conditions.”
Here is what we know about the restaurants and any closures in Tennessee.
The company did not clarify which locations will shutdown. They didn’t share a timeline for the closures but reporters around the nation with the USA TODAY Network found dozens of Hooters restaurants shuttered on Monday, including in Florida, Texas, Kentucky and Indiana.
When did Hooters announce it was closing restaurants?
There was no official announcement of any closures. Individual restaurants have closed down. All social media accounts for individual restaurants were deleted if they closed.
There has been a steady decrease in the number of restaurants in recent years. At the end of 2023, Hooters had 293 locations which was a 1.3% decrease from 2022. There has been a 12% decline from 2018 when there were 333 locations.
How many Hooters restaurants in Tennessee?
According to the Hooters website, there are 12 active restaurants in Tennessee:
Alcoa
Chattanooga
Fort Campbell
Harding Place
Hermitage
Johnson City
Kingston Pike
Memphis Downtown
Merchants Drive
Murfreesboro
Rivergate
Wolfchase
Closed: Hooters on Winchester Road in Memphis
The Hooters location at 7535 Winchester Road near Highway 385 appears to be one of the locations hit by the closures. Online, the restaurant comes up as “permanently closed” and it no longer appears on the list of Tennessee restaurants from the chain.
This location, which opened in 2017, was coming up on its seventh anniversary in October.
When did Hooters first start?
Hooter’s first opened its doors in 1983 in Clearwater, Florida. The chain was started by six businessmen who had never run a restaurant before. It has been an active restaurant for four decades. The chain is currently headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
