The TGI Friday's chain decided to close its store located in the Oxygen Human Playground shopping center, in the province of Heredia, for a 90-day period.
"As you know, the food and beverage sector has been highly impacted, which is why we have taken the measure to suspend operations at our Friday's Oxygen store," explained a statement issued on March 21 by the company.
Tony Roma's decided to close its operations in the country as of January 17, adding to the recent restaurant closures that have been reported in recent months.
According to signs placed at Tony Roma's restaurant in San Rafael de Escazu, the closure is due to a remodeling, however, according to letters given to the former workers, the reason for the dismissal is because of the closure of the business in the country.
The Hooters chain announced that since February 3rd it closed definitively the establishment that was in Moravia, arguing that the sales levels required to be sustainable were not reached.
An official statement details that the closure was made because of " particular circumstances of the area (Moravia) that have occurred during the last year."
Arguing that there were problems of profitability, the Applebee's chain decided to close the three service centers it was operating in the country.
The restaurant franchise was operated in Costa Rica by the company Dine Equity, and the premises that were closed were located in Terrazas de Lindora, San Pedro and Cariari.
Managua's restaurant trade association reports the closure of at least 700 fast food restaurants in recent months.
According to representatives of the Association of Restaurant Owners of Managua, due to the low levels of sales reported in recent months, at least 700 restaurants have closed their operations.
Regarding the massive closure of restaurants, René Hauser, president of the Managua restaurant trade union, said to Elnuevodiario.com.ni that "... That decision was made because of the socio-political crisis the country has been facing since April. Although shopping centers made discounts between 10% and 20% in the rental payment, the low influx of buyers was not cost-effective to continue operating."
Corporación Multi Inversiones has announced that it will be closing the 11 restaurants operating under the Pollo Campero brand, in order to boost development of the Pollo Granjero chain.
Representatives from Corporación Multi Inversiones (CMI) explained that the plan is to develop more and improve the chain operating the Pollo Pollo Granjero brand, which has more than 100 outlets in the country.
Burger King Costa Rica has announced the closure of 29 restaurants operating in the country, after a decision was taken by shareholders and the franchisor BKC US.
Since February the franchise has closed four of its stores in the metropolitan area, citing a lack of financial viability. See: "More Fast Food Closures in Costa Rica".
The chain of fast food restaurants Quiznos, operating since 2004 with twelve outlets, has closed its operations.
The union of restaurants in Guatemala confirmed the closure of the chain of US origin, which in March 2014 began the process of acceding to Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Salvador Contreras, union representative, told Elperiodico.com.gt that "... officially no reason for the closure is known or if there is an operation with firms that are replacing the brand."
Representatives from the international franchise Burger King in the country have announced the closure of four outlets, due to "bad business results".
The outlets which will cease operations are located in the Paseo Metropoli shopping center, Plaza Real Cariari, Santo Domingo and Heredia . These closures are due to the fact that these branches "... are not financially viable, they are located in areas which are not very strategic and have produced bad business results. "
The restaurant chain Bagelmen's has closed seven stores which had been operating in the country for fourteen years, in addition to the recent closure of Wendy's, which closed its doors in early January.
Bagelmen's is the second large fast food chain which has closed its operations in the country this year. The closure of seven premises located in San Pedro, Lindora, Rohrmoser, Sabanilla, Heredia, Escazú and Guinoes, was announced by the owners of the company on January 24, without providing further details.
According to the union of restaurants, the close of the chain Wendy's reflects the saturation of a market which between 2010 and 2014 saw the opening of 244 outlets.
The east and west zones of the greater metropolitan area of the country are reporting higher saturation levels, according to the Costa Rican Chamber of Restaurants, since the supply per person in this sector "... has the same levels as cities such as Paris and New York."
Citing unprofitability the investment group owner of the US franchise Wendy's has announced the closure of its operations in the country.
From a statement issued by Comidas Rápidas Wentica S.A. (Wendy's Costa Rica):
Comidas Rápidas Wentica S.A., operator of the restaurant chain Wendy's Costa Rica, under the principle of responsibly to shareholders, has decided to close its 10 stores in the country permanently, citing reduced the chain's profitability, due to the fact that Costa Rica is the third country in the world in terms of the number of restaurants per square kilometer.