Arby’s is Latest Casualty in USA’s Fast Food Industry Crisis

The 61-Year-Old Chain Keeps Trimming

Arby’s has been around since 1964, when two brothers from Ohio thought roast beef sandwiches could compete with burgers. For decades, they were right.

But in 2025, the chain joined the growing list of fast food brands quietly closing locations across the country. At least 14 locations have shuttered this year across eight states, from Tennessee to California.

The closures come without fanfare or press releases. One day the restaurant is open, the next the doors are locked.

What happened to America’s original roast beef chain, and why is every fast food brand suddenly getting smaller?

Tennessee and Florida Hit Hardest

Tennessee experienced particularly significant closures, with restaurants in Cordova, Germantown, Memphis, and Murfreesboro going dark. Four Jacksonville-area stores in Florida also shuttered in early 2025.

California lost two locations, one in Fresno and another in Victorville. Single closures hit Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Washington state, and South Carolina.

The shutdowns were part of a larger trend, not an isolated event.

Stores closed in different states at different times, reflecting local challenges like rising costs and shifting customer habits.

Franchisees Are Making the Call

Arby’s parent company did not order these closures from headquarters.

Arby’s operates primarily through a franchise model, in which independent operators own and run individual locations while paying fees and royalties to the corporate parent.

When a location stops making money, the franchise owner decides whether to keep it open.

Store closures typically occur without any official statements from the company, since franchise owners make their own decisions to shut down locations that are no longer profitable.

This explains why there’s no official list from Arby’s and no corporate announcement.

One Franchisee Filed Bankruptcy Twice

Miracle Restaurant Group, an Arby’s franchisee based in Louisiana, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2024 for the second time in its history.

The operator of 25 Arby’s locations in Illinois, Indiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana cited inflation of commodities and labor expenses that price increases could not compensate for.

As part of its bankruptcy filing, the operator planned to sell restaurants in Texas, Illinois, and Indiana while focusing on its Louisiana and Mississippi locations.

The company had once operated over 60 restaurants before its first bankruptcy in 2010.

Beef and Labor Costs Squeezed Profits

The Hollywood, California Arby’s didn’t close because people stopped wanting roast beef. It closed because payroll nearly doubled overnight.

Minimum wage hikes, especially on the West Coast, hit franchise owners hard.

The larger reality is that these Arby’s store closures are coming from the same issues the fast food sector has been dealing with for years.

An Arby’s franchisee that filed bankruptcy cited rising costs of labor and supplies post-pandemic, which price rises couldn’t cover.

When your signature ingredient is beef and beef prices climb, there’s only so much you can charge before customers walk away.

Sales Dropped Nearly Seven Percent

Sales declined by 6. 3 percent, and the company closed a net 48 restaurants in 2024, equivalent to 1.4 percent of its total units. Arby’s closed 48 restaurants in 2024.

That’s only a fraction of its over 3,300 locations, but the bleeding hasn’t stopped this year. The sandwich segment as a whole has struggled.

While fast food sales have slumped across the board, sandwich chains like Arby’s have been particularly hard hit, with overall sector sales dropping 3. 25 percent in 2024, following a lackluster 2023.

The Brothers Who Started It All

Arby’s was founded in Boardman Township, Ohio, on July 23, 1964, by brothers Forrest and Leroy Raffel, owners of a restaurant equipment business who thought there was a market opportunity for a fast food franchise based on a dish other than hamburgers.

Surprisingly, a lot of people don’t know that Arby’s was created 50 years ago in suburban Youngstown. The name comes from R.B. the initials of Raffel Brothers.

They initially served only roast beef sandwiches, potato chips, and soft drinks at 69 cents when McDonald’s charged 15 cents for a hamburger.

Inspire Brands Owns Six Chains

Arby’s is now part of Inspire Brands, a restaurant conglomerate based in Atlanta.

Inspire Brands owns the Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Sonic Drive-In, Jimmy John’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Baskin-Robbins chains, which have a combined 33,000 locations and $32.6 billion in system sales.

Inspire Brands was formed when Arby’s Restaurant Group merged with Buffalo Wild Wings on February 5, 2018.

The company has been quietly shifting some operations to larger franchise groups that can absorb risk better than small operators.

A Big Franchisee Just Got Bigger

AES Restaurant Group announced the purchase of 115 Arby’s restaurants across nine states, which expanded its total portfolio to 344 units in 20 states. AES is the second-largest Arby’s franchisee in the world.

The group bought the locations from parent company Inspire Brands.

Earlier this year, the 21-year-old company had acquired 40 units in Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia. This consolidation puts more restaurants in the hands of experienced operators who can weather economic storms.

Wendy’s Is Closing Even More

Arby’s is not alone in shrinking. Wendy’s said closures will start in the fourth quarter this year.

The new round of closures comes on top of the closure of 140 U.S. Wendy’s locations in 2024. Wendy’s is set to close hundreds across the United States, as part of the fast food chain’s turnaround plan.

Jack in the Box has already closed at least 72 stores in 2025, with plans to shutter 80 to 120 more by year-end. U.S. restaurant traffic fell every month this year except for July, according to Black Box Intelligence data.

Customers Are Eating at Home

Traffic across the food service industry dropped by 1 percent in the quarter ending June 2025.

Home-cooked meals directly substitute demand for dining establishments, translating to reduced revenues and declines in customer traffic as demand shifts to grocery stores.

Fast food prices have climbed faster than inflation, increasing between 39 and 100 percent from 2014 to 2024, far outpacing the national inflation rate of 33 percent during the same period.

When a roast beef sandwich costs nearly as much as groceries for a meal, people rethink their choices.

The Chain Is Still Standing

Despite the closures, Arby’s is not going anywhere.

Despite recent closures and some rough patches, Arby’s isn’t folding up its drive-thru windows anytime soon. It still has over 3,600 locations globally.

Arby’s placed third among the top fast-food sandwich chains in the U.S. , topped only by Subway in first place and Panera in second. New locations are still opening in some markets.

One new Arby’s opened in Lamar, Colorado, in January 2025. The opening showed that demand still exists in certain markets.

The roast beef sandwich that cost 69 cents in 1964 is still on the menu. Just at fewer locations.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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