Once-Beloved American Chicken Chain Shutters 95% Of Locations
One unfortunate truth about the restaurant industry is that past success doesn't necessarily guarantee long-term success. Case in point—a chicken chain that used to be wildly popular among diners and boasted a massive footprint has almost completely disappeared from the map.
Boston Market, known for its rotisserie chickens and other homestyle fare, has shrunk to 16 restaurants in the United States, Restaurant Business Magazine reported this week. This indicates that the chain has shuttered a whopping 95% of its locations since the end of 2022, per the publication.
There was no contact information on the chain's website (aside from a catering hotline phone number) that could be used to ask Boston Market for confirmation on these reported closures and its current store count. However, the report that Boston Market is down to 16 locations was far from the first indication that the chain is in trouble.
Boston Market was founded in 1985 and eventually peaked at more than 1,200 locations. However, accumulating debt, overzealous expansion, and competition from cheap grocery store rotisserie chickens led to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing for Boston Market in 1998, the Los Angeles Times reported.
McDonald's purchased Boston Market a couple of years after the Chapter 11 filing, then sold it to the private equity firm Sun Capital Partners in 2007. But the chain continued to struggle under its new owners and closed hundreds of additional stores before it was sold again in 2020—this time to Engage Brands LLC, part of the Rohan Group of Companies owned by Jay Pandya.
Boston Market's issues have only multiplied since then. It has continued to shutter restaurants at a rapid pace, often due to unpaid rent or utility bills. It has also been sued more than 150 times over unpaid bills and wages, per Restaurant Business Magazine. Additionally, Pandya has attempted to file for personal bankruptcy twice since late 2023, but both attempts were denied.
Despite its recent struggles in the United States, Boston Market is apparently expanding its presence overseas. A new "Boston Chicken India" restaurant opened in Delhi in November, according to the eatery's Instagram page.
It describes itself as "India's first flagship outlet of the popular U.S. brand" and has a logo that's nearly identical to Boston Market's American emblem. Pandya was pictured in one of the Instagram posts announcing the opening, though his level of involvement in the restaurant is unknown.
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