The parent company of a casual dining restaurant with a location in Galesburg is planning on closing stores as sales continue to decline.
A press release from, and a conference call with, California-based Dine Equity indicates that the company will close as many as 135 Applebees restaurants this year, along with as many as 25 International House of Pancakes stores. Both figures are significantly higher than previous announcements.
A list of restaurants closing isn’t yet known. Applebees is on Henderson Street in Galesburg, while Applebees and IHOP have locations in both the Quad Cities and Peoria in the immediate area.
Applebees sales dropped seven percent in the first half of the current fiscal year, while IHOP sales declined a little more than two percent.
The announcement of the store closures came as DineEquity also named a new CEO.