Sweet Tomatoes restaurants to close permanently, including 9 in Arizona
chain Souplantation, said in an interview with the Union-Tribune.
“The regulations are understandable, but unfortunately, it makes it very difficult to reopen. And I’m not sure the health departments are ever going to allow it.
“We could’ve overcome any other obstacle, and we’ve worked for eight weeks to overcome these intermittent financial challenges but it doesn’t work if we are not allowed to continue our model.”
The mass shuttering comes at an already tumultuous time for the restaurant industry.
The latest data from the National Restaurant Association paints a dismal picture. Nationwide, the industry has lost two-thirds of its workforce, more than 8 million jobs, due to COVID-19 closures. That’s according to an April survey of more than 6,500 restaurants. The industry lost $30 billion in March and is on track to record $50 billion in lost sales for April. An estimated 40% of restaurants across the country have closed.
On Thursday, the Labor Department revealed 3.2 million unemployment claims were filed last week, bringing the 7-week total to above 33 million. Retail giants such as J. Crew, Neiman Marcus, and fitness brand Gold’s Gym are among the companies that have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections since the pandemic’s onset.
Established as Garden Fresh restaurant in San Diego in 1976, the company grew throughout Southern California in the 1980s, then expanded throughout the country, operating 97 locations be
fore it closed.
The Valley was home to seven locations of Sweet Tomatoes, with restaurants in Gilbert, Tempe, Scottsdale,
Peoria and Phoenix. The company had two more Arizona locations in Tucson.
The Ahwatukee location of Sweet Tomatoes, at 4723 E. Ray Road, had been open for 23 years.