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The Burger King logo is displayed on a sign outside a restaurant in downtown Pittsburgh on Jan. 12, 2022.
No, Burger King is not closing all its restaurants
If Your Time is short
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Burger King did not say the company will close all its stores.
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The company had said it would close up to 400 stores in 2023.
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Burger King is investing more than $1 billion into updating its restaurants.
Burger King has recently closed some stores, but it is not closing "for good," as social media users claimed.
"Fast food giant says it’s closing its doors for good," a May 29 Facebook post with a Burger King logo said.
But neither Burger King, nor its parent company Restaurant Brands International, has made such an announcement. We also searched Google and the Nexis news database and couldn’t find any credible reports of the company saying it will shutter all locations.
This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
Ashley McGowan, a Burger King spokesperson, told PolitiFact that the Burger King brand has not announced that it is shutting down all its stores.
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Restaurant Brands International Chief Executive Officer Josh Kobza said on an earnings call last year that the chain typically closes "a couple hundred" stores each year, and would likely close 300 to 400 U.S. stores in 2023.
Restaurant Business magazine reported that Burger King closed nearly 300 locations in 2023’s fourth quarter. As of March, the company has more than 6,000 restaurants in the U.S., according to HasData, which scrapes data about Burger King locations from Google Maps.
Burger King made plans to update its U.S. stores this year. Restaurant Brands International announced in May that it had acquired more than 1,000 Burger King restaurants from Carrols Restaurant Group.
The "Home of the Whopper" said it plans to invest $1.05 billion to modernize stores, including 600 of the stores acquired from Carrols. Restaurant Brands International said Burger King plans to increase the number of U.S. franchisees by about 100 to 200 over the next five years.
We rate the claim that Burger King is "closing its doors for good" False.
Our Sources
Facebook post (archived), May 29, 2024
Burger King Newsroom, press releases, accessed May 31, 2024
Restaurant Brands International, News, accessed May 31, 2024
Restaurant Dive, 400 Burger Kings may close in US this year, May 2, 2023
HasData, Number of Burger King restaurants in the United States, March 2024
Email interview, Ashley McGowan, Burger King spokesperson, May 30, 2024
Restaurant Brands International, Burger King Co. to acquire Carrols Restaurant Group, Jan. 16, 2024
Restaurant Brands International, Burger King announces additional investment to achieve 85%-90% modern image in U.S. restaurants by 2028, April 30, 2024
Restaurant Brands International, Burger King Co. completes acquisition of Carrols Restaurant Group, May 16, 2024
Restaurant Business Magazine, Franchisee profitability soars for Burger King and its sister chains, Feb. 13, 2024
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No, Burger King is not closing all its restaurants
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