Businesses rise and fall all the time, yet sometimes large chains too big to fail seem to disappear overnight. Join CSG as we perform a company autopsy on five retail and restaurant chains that recently met their untimely demise.<\/p>\n
NPC International<\/strong> Souplantation<\/strong> Global Brands Group<\/strong> Stein Mart<\/strong> Olympia Sports<\/strong> The loss of a major company or a recognized brand is unfortunate and a warning to all those in operation that it can happen to anyone. The takeaway is that although unforeseen events do occur, continuing to innovate, reinvent, adapt, and charge forward are the ways to minimize total collapse. Just remember, bankruptcy isn\u2019t always the final nail as we will see next week with the retail and foodservice<\/a> \u201cCompanies That Rose From The Grave\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n #CSGpolls<\/a> \u2013 What companies that went out of business do you miss the most?<\/p>\n Let us know in the comments below.https:\/\/t.co\/WDAH28Mz4s<\/a><\/p>\n — Chain Store Guide (@ChainStoreGuide) October 20, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nPreviously the second largest U.S. restaurant franchisee<\/a> with hundreds of Pizza Hut<\/strong> and Wendy\u2019s<\/strong> locations. Now, this giant has fallen, and their restaurants have been parted out to others. NPC was the largest Pizza Hut franchisor in the U.S. and in the past, they may have seemed too big to fail, yet times changed, and they weren\u2019t prepared to move forward. A large portion of their Pizza Hut units were dine-in locations, the kind that Pizza Hut has decided to phase out, and this left NPC on the wrong side of the progress. The company was facing low sales, labor issues, and loss of market share and all of this was before the pandemic hit. Once that happened, it was only a matter of time before they shut their doors for good.<\/p>\n
\nA buffet-style soup and salad concept that shuttered in 2020. It would appear at first glance that their closure was solely due to the pandemic, yet their demise began years before. Their concept was niche from the start and the lack of direct restaurant competitors was likely due to low demand for their offerings. The company staved off closure in 2016 when they were purchased by Perpetual Capital Partners following a bankruptcy filing. They were attempting to renovate their restaurants in a last-ditch effort to bring in customers, although the pandemic altered those plans. As a buffet restaurant, they were one of the first to be forced to shut down<\/a> in 2020. There revenue plummeted and they never made it to the point when restrictions were lifted. The pandemic hastened their demise; however, Souplantation was never long for this world.<\/p>\n
\nThis business is based in Hong Kong, although the U.S. arm of their company filed for bankruptcy in 2021. Unlike some of the other entries on out list, Global Brands owes much of their demise directly to the pandemic. The company was a leader in designing and distributing apparel, footwear, and accessory<\/a> products. They also managed brands that were developed by celebrities. The retailer was so massive that they were essentially spread too thin. There were so many moving parts in their supply chain, that when the pandemic took a wrecking ball to global supply chains<\/a>, they had no chance to recover. The company limped on for as long as they could and eventually, they were forced to wind down their assets and file for bankruptcy.<\/p>\n
\nTechnically the discount women\u2019s fashion store still exists, except that there is no mart to visit. In 2020, they shuttered all of their locations and shut down their website. The lights are back on in their digital marketplace and under new ownership, although the Stein Mart of old is buried. Their customer base revolved around typically older women coming into their stores and filing through clothing racks hunting for a good sale on quality merchandise. That treasure hunt was central to what made Stein Mart special, and it doesn\u2019t transfer well to e-commerce. The company fell in part due to the pandemic, yet that isn\u2019t the whole story. The chain was niche, and they were outgained by competitors like Ross<\/strong> and T.J. Maxx<\/strong>. They were already planning a merger with another company even before the pandemic hit to help make up for their losses. The pandemic quashed the deal and their clientele stopped coming in. Stein Mart couldn\u2019t sustain the losses and now they are a fraction of their former self.<\/p>\n
\nThis was a sporting goods retailer founded in 1975 and one of the most recent closures on our list. Olympia was able to grow their business early on, though recently they have faced stiff competition from their big-box competitors. Household names like Dick\u2019s<\/strong> and Cabela\u2019s<\/strong> are tough enough competition even without factoring in the power of Walmart<\/strong> and Amazon<\/strong> in the sporting goods space. The company had lost 150 stores by 2019 and they closed 76 more that year after being acquired by JackRabbit, a company specializing in running apparel. The pandemic likely didn\u2019t help the retailer\u2019s chances of recovery, yet the writing was already on the wall. The acquisition did not spark the return to form that Olympia hoped, and they have finally liquidated all of their locations.<\/p>\n\n