The Boston-based Boloco fast-casual burrito chain closed its second store in the greater Washington, D.C., area last week, acknowledging that cracking a market so far from its New England base was tougher than anticipated.
In an email to patrons, the chain said it could not garner sufficient attention with just two restaurants in the area. “In hindsight, to drive the awareness that we needed, we would have had to open many more locations,” the note read in part.
Boloco added in a statement issued to Boston-area media that the D.C. area is an “oversaturated market full of fast-casual restaurant options.”
True to its professed social commitment, the chain pointed out in its public communications that employees at the discontinued Bethesda, Md., store were given four weeks of severance pay.
Boloco still operates 20 restaurants, mostly in Massachusetts.
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