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- More than 10% of all US restaurant locations closed during the pandemic.
- Dunkin', Burger King, and Subway were the hardest hit large chains.
- But others like Domino's and Starbucks added locations last year.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
10% of all restaurants have closed since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, including hundreds of locations of major chains, according to food industry research firm Dataessential's new report.
No sector of the industry was safe. Closures affected fast food, fast casual, casual, and fine dining. Subway closed more stores than any other large chain examined by Dataessential, closing out the period with 1,557 fewer stores, a 6.6% loss. Dunkin' lost a net 559 stores, the report said.
Even fast food staples were hit by the pandemic. Burger King closed 319 locations, while McDonald's closed 173. However, that only amounts to a 1.2% loss for McDonald's, which still has well over 13,000 locations. Baskin Robbin's, Hardees, and Steak N Shake each closed restaurants, while Little Caesar's bucked the positive trend for pizza chains this year, closing 120 locations.
Some restaurants did manage to open new locations. Domino's came out on top, opening 358 new stores. This isn't necessarily surprising: pizza and wings were hailed as early winners in the pandemic as Americans increasingly ordered from brands that were already set up to accommodate delivery, like Papa John's and Wingstop.
The rest of the pizza industry saw huge losses, up to $30 billion in March and $50 billion in April. The trend doesn't apply to all pizza chains, though, as Little Caesar's shows.
Starbucks, Taco Bell, and Chipotle all also all ended the year with over 200 additional stores apiece. Each of these chains has invested in drive-thrus throughout the pandemic.
Starbucks is making efforts to improve drive-thru efficiency with digital drive-thru screens for ordering and handheld devices for baristas to input orders on. Taco Bell cut more than a dozen items in 2020 to make drive-thru lines move more quickly, and sales grew as a result. Chipotle is opening hundreds of Chipotlane drive-thru lanes, with plans to more than double locations.
Most restaurants that added locations have embraced drive-thrus and mobile ordering, while chains that didn't suffered, though this doesn't explain every chain.
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