FALLOUT: 51 Steak ‘n Shake restaurants are now shut down permanently

Casual chain sees quarterly revenues drop 34 percent; some restaurants remain open for drive-through carryout
A former Steak N’ Shake in Middletown.

A former Steak N’ Shake in Middletown.
What to Know
By Mark Fisher
May 12, 2020
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Steak ’n Shake has permanently closed 51 of its company-owned restaurants nationwide, and another 62 locations are temporarily closed, as the burger chain struggles to cope with the coronavirus pandemic that contributed to a 37 percent drop in sales in the first quarter of 2020, according to the chain’s parent company’s most recent earnings report.

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In its financial statement, the restaurant chain’s corporate parent did not list which 51 of its restaurants it now considers permanently closed. Six additional franchise-owned restaurants shut down during the first quarter of 2020, dropping the total number of Steak ’n Shake restaurants from 610 to 553 in the past year.

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All Steak ‘n Shake dining rooms were forced to shut down during the pandemic, although most have kept their drive-through operations open and operating.

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Steak ’n Shake shut down several southwest Ohio locations temporarily last year, including at least two in the Dayton area, in Englewood and on Miller Lane in Butler Twp.

The closures revealed in the earnings report suggest that about half of the chain's temporary closures announced last year have been made permanent as the company has attempted to regain profitability amid steep sales and traffic declines, according to restaurantbusinessonline, which covers the restaurant industry.

>> RELATED: CONFIRMED: Another Dayton-area Steak ‘n Shake closes temporarily; no word on when it will reopen (March 2019)

When Steak ’n Shake shut down its restaurant on Miller Lane in March 2019, a spokeswoman for the chain said the closure, and a handful of other Steak ’n Shake closures in the region, were temporary as the chain transitioned from corporate-operated to franchisee-operated restaurants.

But eight months later, in November 2019, property and building were sold by Steak ’n Shake Inc. to a new buyer who has signed a contract for a City Barbeque to open on that tract of land.

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At one point in early 2019, 10 of the 12 Steak ’n Shake restaurants in Butler, Warren, Hamilton and Clermont counties had been closed temporarily.

This news organization has reached out to Steak ’n Shake officials and will report any new information here.

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About the Author

Mark Fisher, a 1981 graduate of Ohio State University and a 1976 graduate of Beavercreek High School, is a third-generation Dayton-area resident who has worked for the Dayton Daily News since 1983. He covered higher education and K-12 education accountability issues for nearly 20 years before taking over the food and dining beat in 2006.