Eddie Bauer and Pizza Hut lead a parade of retail and food chain closings

The gloomy jobs quality that kicked disconnected 2026 is acceptable to go adjacent worse successful the months up arsenic a large retail sanction and a edifice concatenation are expected to adjacent each U.S. locations and different large edifice radical plans to adjacent much than 100 of its stores.

Eddie Bauer is reportedly readying to record for bankruptcy, which would apt mean the closure of most, if not all, of the brand's astir 200 stores successful the U.S. and Canada. As that concern evolves, Olive Garden genitor institution Darden Restaurants has announced plans to unopen down its Caribbean-themed Bahama Breeze edifice chain, and and Taco Bell genitor Yum! Brands has said it volition adjacent 250 Pizza Hut locations astir the country.

For Eddie Bauer, things stay uncertain. There is reportedly involvement successful taking implicit immoderate of the existing American stores, but not all, truthful the fig of stores that whitethorn beryllium closed is inactive fluctuating. And immoderate Chapter 11 filing by the institution would not interaction the company's e-commerce operations oregon retail concern extracurricular of North America, arsenic those licenses beryllium to different firm entity.

Should the filing instrumentality place, arsenic expected, it would beryllium the 3rd for Eddie Bauer. It antecedently filed for bankruptcy successful 2003 and 2009.

The Pizza Hut closings, meanwhile, travel arsenic America's appetite for the staple declines. Major chains including Papa John's, Pizza Hut, and Papa Murphy's person each seen income diminution successful caller years. And different restaurants, including Pieology and Bertucci's, person filed for bankruptcy.

Yum! announced the closing plans successful an net telephone Wednesday, saying the closures would hap successful the archetypal fractional of this year. That volition trim its U.S. footprint by astir 3%. The institution has not yet released a database of circumstantial locations that volition beryllium affected.

Darden's determination to adjacent Bahama Breeze volition impact less workers: The concatenation lone has 28 locations successful the U.S. Half of those volition adjacent entirely, portion the remainder volition beryllium converted to different Darden brands, which see Olive Garden, Yard House, and Ruth's Chris Steak House. Most of the locations to beryllium converted are located successful Florida.