SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. The Spokane Valley Marie Callender's closed Sunday as a result of the company filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.
58 corporately owned Perkins and Marie Callender's have shut down, including all three Marie Callender's restaurants in Washington State.
Restaurants closed in Spokane Valley, Seattle and Federal Way.
Nancy McDaniel owns five Perkins Restaurants in Ritzville, Spokane Valley, Downtown Spokane, North Spokane and Coeur d'Alene. Her stores are not affected by the corporate closures, which did not come as a surprise to her.
'It's very unfortunate I am not surprised however given the economy and given the challenges that all of the restaurants, especially in Spokane Valley have been having,' McDaniel said.
The 58 stores that closed were low performing.
McDaniel said says her restaurants are coming into the busy season, and she expects to hire more workers. She said she should be able to hire back some of the workers laid off from Marie Callender's.
Monday morning, customers showed up to eat at the Marie Callender's at 2111 N. Argonne Road, unaware it had closed down. Nancy Edwards was one of those customers.
'We were surprised that there weren't many cars in the parking lot because very often it's quite crowded around noon,' said Edwards said.
A sign on the door reads: 'We regret to announce that this Marie Callender's restaurant has closed. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patronage. For more information or the nearest location, visit mariecallenders.com.'
An employee told KREM 2 News word of the closure came out of nowhere.
The employee said she worked a full shift Sunday. When she got ready to leave for the day, she noticed people in the kitchen were cleaning up in a way they normally do at the end of the day. When the employee asked why, the co-worker stated all the employees had lost their jobs because the restaurant was closing down.
McDaniel said it is common in many industries including restaurants to not give employees notice about upcoming closures.
'If employees had prior notice, very likely you wouldn't have employees, as well as they would tell the guests,' she said.
