Kona Grill closes restaurant at Stamford Town Center mall
STAMFORD — Embattled sushi-and-cocktails chain Kona Grill has closed its restaurant at Stamford Town Center, the latest in a series of recent exits from the downtown mall.
April 12 marked Kona’s last day in the mall’s restaurant row, Stamford Town Center’s management told Hearst Connecticut Media. Kona represented one of the original tenants of the dining hub, at
230 Tresser Blvd., which opened in
2007.
“Our leasing team is actively pursuing leads, and we will share more information when the time is right,” Stamford Town Center General Manager Dan Stolzenbach said Tuesday night. He declined to comment on the reasons for the closing.
Kona announced the shutdown with a sign posted on its front door.
“We thank you and have appreciated your patronage and support over the years,” the sign says.
The sign does not explain why the restaurant closed. A message left for Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Kona was not immediately returned.
Kona has grappled with declining revenues, and it has cycled through five CEOs in the past nine months. It has also recently closed restaurants in Las Vegas; Miami; Fort Worth, Texas; and Chandler, Ariz. About 40 locations remain.
The departure creates the second vacancy in the restaurant row, following the closing last year of a Rascal Flatts eatery.
Remaining restaurants include Peter Chang restaurant, which opened last year; Pieology pizzeria, which debuted in 2017; The Cheesecake Factory, which launched in
2016; The Capital Grille; and Plan B Burger Bar.
Meanwhile, the mall’s main retail complex has seen many changes this year.
Several of the store closings — including the departures of Charlotte Russe and The Walking Co. — reflect corporate bankruptcies. In addition, Gymboree and Payless ShoeSource are holding liquidation sales.
Other chains that have not gone bankrupt have also left the mall in the past three months.
Armani Exchange and J. Crew both shuttered their storefronts Jan. 27. Ann Taylor closed Feb. 23, and a Cellairis cellphone repair-and-accessory store exited Feb. 17.
More exits are on the way. Home-goods stores Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma are, respectively, scheduled to close by the end of this month and mid-May.
To help counter the departures, the mall has recruited a number of new tenants, including a showroom for Genesis cars that took over the former Armani Exchange space. One level up, a Custom Candle Co. store has opened next to Gap Kids.