Major family favourite restaurant chain with 500 branches abruptly shuts ‘perfect’ site
A FAMILY favourite restaurant chain has abruptly closed one of its sites.
Yo! Sushi, which has more than 500 UK sites as well as supermarket concessions, has shuttered its branch in Swindon.
Yo!, which is famous for its sushi conveyor belts, closed up shop at the Designer Outlet Village over the weekend.
The brand opened its restaurant in the shopping village in August 2021.
But after just three years, the designer shopping centre confirmed the restaurant has closed.
No new occupant for the site has been announced.
News of the restaurant’s closure was discussed by Facebook locals, who complained about the prices.
One said: “I enjoyed it, but far too expensive.”
Another added: “Too expensive + tiny portions = awful value for money so no repeat business.
“People went once and said never again.”
But reviews for the site online were glowing.
One said: “The staff couldn’t do enough to help and were so welcoming. We had the kids bento boxes which were really great value, so much food!
“Then we ordered some bits and got some items off the belt. All the food was perfect and so delicious. It was my kid’s first time and they have already been begging to go again!”
A second wrote: “Good tasty food nice fresh noodles tasty toppings I enjoyed my meal.”
“Very nice atmosphere, the food train concept is very nice, should definitely try once,” another commented.
It’s important to note that just because Yo! has shut this site, it doesn’t mean the chain is in trouble and chains close branches for all sorts of reasons including rent negotiations and moving elsewhere.
The Sun reached out to Yo! for comment and will update this story when we hear back.
Last year Yo!’s parent company was sold to Japanese food giant Zensho Holdings for $621m (£500m).
In its last published accounts, it reported a revenue boost of 53.8% in the year ended 27 November 2022.
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun’s business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open. In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
Boss Stuart Machin recently said that when it relocated a tired store in Chesterfield to a new big store in a retail park half a mile away, its sales in the area rose by 103 per cent.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Wilko, Debenhams Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Paperchase to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.
Restaurant chains continue to feel the pinch
Food and drink chains in general have been suffering in recent months as the cost of living has led to fewer people spending on eating out.
Businesses had been struggling to bounce back after the pandemic, only to be hit with soaring energy bills and inflation.
Pizza giant Papa Johns is shutting down 43 of its stores by next month.
Multiple chains have been affected, resulting in big-name brands like Wetherspoons and Frankie & Benny’s closing branches.
In January 2023, Byron Burger fell into administration, with owners saying it would result in the loss of over 200 jobs.
Italian dining chain Prezzo revealed plans to shut 46 restaurants back in April due to soaring energy and food costs, putting 810 jobs at risk.
In January 2024 many restaurants just did not reopen after Christmas.
Marco Pierre White’s restaurant Mr White’s Steak, Pizza and Gin House, located in London’s iconic West End, closed indefinitely.
Meanwhile, his Steakhouse Bar & Grill in Cardiff also permanently shut.
Ex-masterchef finalist Tony Rodd was also forced to close his restaurant Copper & Ink earlier this month after he reportedly received a “terrifying” £80,000 energy bill.
Also, other chains have been forced to put expansion plans on hold.
Hostmore, the owner of restaurant chain TGI Fridays and 63rd+1st has said that it will no longer open any new restaurants until at least 2025, after confirming a drop in earnings.
Caffè Nero, which launched in the UK in 1997, pulled down the shutters on half a dozen sites in 2023 in a blow for caffeine lovers.
It is not just the hospitality industry, high street retailers have been shutting at an alarming rate.
Tasty, the owner of Wildwood, said it will shut sites as part of major restructuring plans.
Stonegate, has also raised fears about its survival as it races to plug its debts.
Whitbread recently revealed plans to slash its chain of branded restaurants across the UK.
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