Within the past few days, Sonic shuttered restaurants on Hugh Howell Road in Tucker and in an outparcel of Belvedere Plaza on Memorial Drive in Decatur. The closures reportedly came without warning, catching many would-be customers off-guard leaving many to wonder where they will be able to get their limeade fix.
The opening of Cook Out in early 2016 adjacent to Sonic in Tucker no doubt had a negative impact on the revenue of the incumbent burger joint.
The Sonic closures in Tucker and Decatur follow the closure of the Sonic on Satellite Boulevard in Duluth earlier last year.
In recent years, the company has also shuttered locations on Alpharetta Highway in Alpharetta, and Bankhead Highway in Carrollton, among others. As ToNeTo Atlanta previously reported, Sonic did open a new location in 2016 in Gainesville in a rare former Chick-fil-A.
The company also once had locations on Lawrenceville Highway near North DeKalb Mall and on Buford Highway near Briarwoood Road in Brookhaven but those locations closed many years ago.
Started in Oklahoma in 1953, the company today has more than 3,500 locations worldwide. Atlanta-based Inspire Brands (Arby's, Buffalo Wild Wings, Rusty Taco & Jimmy John's) purchased Sonic for $2.3 billion in late 2018.
Are you surprised to see Sonic close so many restaurants? When was the last time you ate at a Sonic Drive-In? What would you like to see open in place of the former Tucker and Decatur Sonic restaurants?
Please share your thoughts below.
3 comments:
I was surprised! My husband and I wanted to go to the Tucker one on Friday night and arrived to discover the place totally dark, menus gone, but the sign out front still eagerly advertising happy hour. Bummer!
I got food at the Tucker location on Dec. 28 and all seemed fine. I went there this past Saturday - just 2 weeks later - and couldn't believe it was closed and all the exterior signage had been removed. I have loved Sonic since I was in college in the '70s. I'd love to see another Sonic location nearby. Now I guess I'll be driving to the one on JCB in Norcross for my cherry limeade fix.
I've gone to the Tucker location for lunch many times, and while everything was up to par at the location, I'm really not surprised. If you drive a few more feet, you hit a Cook Out and a Wendy's. They both have great meal deals, price wise at least. I loved the options at Sonics, but just based on the pricing and sometimes the wait to get your food, I can understand why most of the traffic went to the other options.
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