Outback, Bonefish, Carrabba’s in Columbus dodge company downsizing
It’s official: The Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Outback Steakhouse and Bonefish Grill restaurants in Columbus have dodged the closure bullet and are not among the 43 combined locations being eliminated by their parent company.
“All restaurants in the Columbus area will remain open,” Elizabeth Watts, director of Media & Community Relations at Bloomin’ Brands, confirmed Wednesday in an email.
(Trevioli Italian Kitchen progressing toward its north Columbus debut)
The Columbus locations are Outback Steakhouse at 5592 Whitesville Road, Carrabba’s Italian Grill at 5555 Whittlesey Blvd., and Bonefish Grill at 6783 Veterans Parkway.
Tampa, Fla.-based Bloomin’ Brands Inc. said in a Feb. 17 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission it decided to close 43 “underperforming” restaurants in its portfolio. Its brands include Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, which doesn’t have a Columbus location.
“Most of these restaurants will close in 2017, with the balance closing as leases and certain operating covenants expire or are amended or waived,” the company said in the filing, noting it was charging off $46.5 million to shutter the locations.
(Car wash and chicken wing restaurant combo now under construction)
(Ben’s ChopHouse preparing for move to prime Veterans Parkway site)
The publicly traded company did not say which locations were being cut or break down how many were from the Outback, Carrabba’s and Bonefish chains. It also said additional costs related to the closures could reach $23.5 million over the next three years, with millions of dollars more being spent on the downsizing effort through 2029, much of that cash connected to lease liabilities.
At the end of December, Bloomin’ Brands reported in the filing, it had 755 company-owned and franchised Outback Steakhouse locations, 244 Carrabba’s Italian Grill restaurants and 210 Bonefish Grill eateries. Its Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse locations total 68.
Sales of all four brands were down slightly in the fiscal year ended Dec. 27, 2016, the firm reported, with traffic to the restaurants off 2.2 percent (Fleming’s), 3.7 percent (Bonefish), 2.7 percent (Carrabba’s) and 5.7 percent (Outback) from fiscal year 2015.
This story was originally published February 22, 2017 at 5:24 PM with the headline "Outback, Bonefish, Carrabba’s in Columbus dodge company downsizing."