Major Chains Closing Stores – Sbarro – California – 12/16

Sbarro

WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 10: Commuters pass by the Union Station location of pizza restaurant chain Sbarro March 10, 2014 in Washington, DC. Sbarro filed for bankruptcy protection today, the company’s second since filing in 2011. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

• Sbarro which operates pizza and Italian restaurants in malls, is planning to close 155 locations in the United States and Canada. That means nearly 20 percent of Sbarro’s will close. The chain operates around 800 outlets.

Two Orange County Sbarros are among 17 that have shut down in California as part of the chain’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing.

Pizza outlets at Fashion Island in Newport Beach and the Westminster Mall closed in late February or early March in advance of Monday’s bankruptcy reorganization filing, company spokesman Jonathan Dedmon told the Register on Tuesday. The restaurants were among 182 closures across the U.S. that targeted underperforming stores primarily in mall food courts, he said.

Other regional closures include Thousand Oaks, Riverside, Montclair, Victorville and Los Angeles.

“No more major store closures are planned, although we in the normal course of business open and close stores all the time,” Dedmon said.

An Irvine Co. representative said Sbarro closed Feb. 19 at Fashion Island. The developer plans to replace the food court spot with Baking Betty’s, a gourmet cookie maker.

The shop, which has a kiosk at the mall, will offer an expanded menu that includes ice cream sandwiches, malts, custom cookies made to order, cookie cakes and s’mores, Irvine Co. spokemsn Mike Lyster said.