Zinburger is closing the vast majority of its East Coast locations permanently, citing the coronavirus for hurting sales.
The Briad Group, which has been building Zinburger locations up and down the East Coast for the past decade, has closed 15 of the 18 units it operates. Fox Restaurant Concepts, which created the brand, oversees six locations in Arizona that remain unaffected.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant financial impact on the restaurant industry,” Rick Barbrick, president and co-CEO of The Briad Group, said in a statement. “Sadly, Zinburger is not able to reopen all locations as a result of the shutdown caused by the pandemic.”
He said the company will reopen its locations in Marlboro and Bridgewater, N.J., “as soon as it is safe to do so” and its location in Clifton, N.J., has remained open for delivery and pickup and will open its dining room “as soon as the governor allows.”
“We will not be reopening any other East Coast Zinburgers.”
Briad is a developer and restaurant operator based in Livingston, N.J. The company operates Wendy’s as well as Marriott and Hilton restaurants. The company previously operated TGI Friday’s but sold those restaurants bac to the franchisor earlier this year. Briad also operates a shopping center in Clifton.
Briad had operated Zinburger on the East Coast as part of an unusual relationship with Fox, operating as something of an eastern version of the brand—the Briad-owned Zinburger and the Fox-owned Zinburger have different websites, for instance.
The closure of the 15 Zinburger locations out east adds to the growing number of restaurants permanently closing due to the coronavirus, which led to mass closures of restaurants throughout the country as states restricted dine-in visits.
“We thank all our guests for their loyalty and hope to have the pleasure of serving them at one of our three remaining [New Jersey] locations very soon,” Barbrick said. “We also thank our managers and teammates for their hard work and dedication to running great restaurants and wish them all the best.”
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