Hooters Closing In Illinois Will Rockford Make The Cut?

The Hooters restaurant chain has been popular and successful for many years but now the chain is being forced to close underperforming locations including in Illinois but will Rockford make the cut?

Hooter's Closing Locations In Illinois

I remember hearing about Hooters when I was in college. At the time, they were only in Florida. My first experience was on spring break. A couple of my buddies wanted to check it out. I was curious so I went along to check it out.

READ MORE: Abandoned Hooters In Illinois

Then, just after I graduated from school, the first opened in Illinois. It was located in the Chicago area. Once again, some of my friends and I went to check it out. We never thought one would open in the Midwest.

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Then, Hooters came to Rockford. That was a big deal. People lined up for hours just to check it out. The place was packed for weeks with customers. Of course, the Forest City is pretty conservative town so there were protesters too.

The Hooters chain became massive and they opened restaurants all over the world. Through the years, I did many radio promotions at the Rockford location. It was always busy so I never thought the place had any financial difficulty.

A couple of years ago, the Hooters in Janesville went out of business. Then slowly, other locations shut down operations too. I admit I was surprised. The recent news about the business really shocked me.

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So far, 44 Hooters locations in 14 states have gone out of business for underperforming. That includes Illinois. What does that mean for Rockford? Well, at this point our restaurant is safe. Like I said earlier, it's usually busy. Unfortunately, the one in Springfield didn't make the cut.