Red Robin departs from Milford, Danbury malls
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers restaurants in the Milford and Danbury malls have been shuttered.
The two were among the 10 Red Robin locations that were closed Friday, following a Thursday conference call announcing declining revenue and restaurant attendance for the Colorado-based company.
“As our financial results demonstrate, there is still much work to be done on the turnaround, and we are moving with urgency,” Pattye Moore, board chair and interim CEO of Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc., said in a news release.
Red Robin’s total revenue took almost a 3 percent hit, dropping to $409.9 million from its $421.5 million in April 2018.
After the closing of these 10 restaurants, more than 560 Red Robin locations remain in North America — just over 540 in the U.S. and 18 in Canada — according to a company spokesperson.
Connecticut also has Red Robin locations in West Hartford, Manchester, and Enfield.
“The closures are part of a previously announced and ongoing reassessment of Red Robin’s real estate portfolio that includes looking at strategies to improve profitability of existing locations, as well as identifying markets for potential refranchising,” said Red Robin spokesperson Kevin Caufield in an email to Hearst Connecticut Media.
The burger chain’s restaurants have a struggled with a declining profits and lagging foot traffic. Restaurant revenue dropped from $14.2 million in the first quarter of 2018 to $13.5 million in this year’s opening quarter.
According to Caufield, employees displaced by the closures were offered transfers to other Red Robin locations. The nearest Red Robin to the Danbury and Milford locations are in West Hartford.
The departure of the chain restaurant leaves a vacancy in both malls which officials said they plan to fill.
“Connecticut Post Mall has valued its long-standing relationship with Red Robin,” said mall spokeswoman Kelly Frantz in an emailed statement. “We are committed to providing shoppers with outstanding, sought-after stores and restaurants and have been exploring other options that will enhance our customers’ shopping experience and better meet the needs of our local community.”
The Milford restaurant had opened in 2015.
Red Robin is latest in several a chain brands closing locations this year. It’s joining Starbucks, which announced last year that it would be closing roughly 150 cafés this year for poor performance.