It’s hard to believe given how popular the burger joint is all around the nation but Shake Shack just announced that it will close a total of nine locations all throughout the United States, including a whopping six in California (five of which are in the L.A. area).
According to a report that the chain has filed with the SEC, all closures are expected to be completed by September 25.
At the same time, Shake Shack—which appears on our list of best fast food restaurants in America and first arrived in L.A. in 2015—has also announced its intention to debut 40 new company-owned venues and the same amount of licensed locations this year.
As they say: you win some, you lose some.
Where are the Shake Shacks closing in L.A.?
There are six total Shake Shacks closing in California, five of which are in the L.A. area. Here is a list of all of them:
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Bunker Hill (Downtown L.A.)
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Downtown Culver City
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Koreatown
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Silver Lake
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Westfield Topanga (Canoga Park)
Some of these aren’t so shocking. The Westfield Topanga site has another Shake Shack literally right across the street from the mall. The Culver City one is barely a block away from an In-N-Out. And over in DTLA, high vacancy rates at office buildings must have surely impacted the foot traffic at the Bunker Hill outpost.
How many locations will be closing?
In addition to the five L.A. Shake Shacks, the company will be closing its outpost in Oakland, as well as in Polaris, Ohio. Two Texas stores—one in Houston Galleria and the other in Montrose—will also shutter.
Why is Shake Shack closing locations in L.A.?
The company has been pretty honest when discussing the reasoning behind the closures, specifically mentioning underperformance.
“After careful consideration, we’ve made the tough decision to close a small group of Shacks due to various factors, including underperformance,” said Shake Shack CEO Rob Lynch in an official statement. “We remain focused on supporting our team members through this transition and look forward to continuing our growth, opening many more locations across the country.”
For what it’s worth, the chain has also mentioned that it “currently does not anticipate closing any additional Shacks based on this evaluation,” and it’ll continue to operate well over a dozen spots in L.A.
Hopefully, that won’t change any time soon.