The Frisch’s family-dining chain continued to shrink this week with the eviction of six restaurants on Wednesday and two on Tuesday for nonpayment of rent.
All were operating on Ohio sites owned by Orlando-based NNN Reit, formerly known as National Retail Properties. The landlord is owed a total of $4.5 million in back rent on at least 20 Frisch’s units, according to local news reports.
The shutdowns ordered this week by a county court followed eviction orders for two stores last week.
The chain’s website lists 73 units still in operation within three states (Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana), but it was unclear if the roster had been updated yet to reflect recent closures or pending shutdowns. The chain had more than 150 units at its peak.
Efforts to reach Frisch’s for further details have been unsuccessful.
The evictions on Wednesday were ordered by a magistrate of the Hamilton County Court. The restaurants were ordered to vacate their sites within seven days, according to local media coverage, which noted that no representative of Frisch’s was even present for the proceedings.
Tuesday’s evictions were handed down by a Clermont County municipal judge.
The eviction decisions are part of the retrenchment that’s reshaping the family-dining market, a segment that still accounts for roughly a third of the full-service restaurant business, according to Denny’s.
That chain revealed last week that it intends to close about 150 stores, or more than a tenth of the domestic system, because of their drag on an ongoing rejuvenation drive.
Two days earlier, the regional chain Shari’s shut all 42 of its units in its home market of Oregon.
The market’s old guard has intensified its focus in recent months on value and menus abounding in homey fare. It is facing intense internal competition from a new, tonier subsegment that serves only breakfast, brunch and lunch, a sharp break from older chains’ dependence on all three dayparts.
Frisch’s was acquired nine years ago for $175 million by the private-equity firm NRD Capital. The investment company has also backed Pickle Pad, a pickleball concept, and the tech firms Harri and Qu. It is a past owner of the Ruby Tuesday casual-dining chain.
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