Three chain restaurants in the DC metropolitan area have closed one after another in the last few weeks.
The closures of two major fast-food restaurants have caught the attention of the residents of Hagerstown, Maryland, about an hour north of Washington, D.C.
The Golden Corral in Hagerstown has been left completely abandoned.
The KFC in the downtown area has also suddenly closed its doors.
“I generally made it to having to come at least two or three times a month, I think it’s a shame,” said Hagerstown resident Collis Walton to local Nexstar station WDVMTV.
Locals are now wondering what is the driving force behind these sudden closures.
The Washington County Chamber of Commerce CEO Paul Frey claims that rising costs are the main reason companies are closing their doors.
“They have to make a profit and with the increase over the years and their food costs, they have to pass on to their customer,” said Frey to WDVMTV.
“Minimum wage continues to go up and I think that impacts No. 1, their expenses are what they can charge for food.”
Frey said that lower-income families will be impacted the most by these closures as they now have less affordable options for eating out.
“Either they have to get a ride, they might have to get Uber, they might have to get an order in and pay a little bit more for those services that provide that product or provide delivery of the products to them,” explained Frey to WDVMTV.
However, Frey argued that those looking to open their own business do not have to start from scratch.
“Maybe someone wants to open a restaurant, they don’t have to do the whole development,” said Frey to WDVMTV.
“They have a site they can move into and the existing independent restaurants and coffee houses that leave more business for them.”
KFC has closed down several locations, particularly in Louisiana, without warning.
These sudden shutdowns come just months after a KFC restaurant in Three Rivers, Michigan closed its doors, per the radio outlet WKFR.