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There are four Burger King restaurants closing in Maine. The fast-food restaurants closed some of their doors forever on Monday, Dec. 28, 2020. Due to the corporation declining its franchise agreement — four locations had to close.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many businesses to close. However, places like Burger King have generally fared well.
Policy analyst at the left-leaning Maine Center for Economic Policy, James Myall, stated that they have fared better than other kinds of restaurants.
They’ve usually been better placed to adapt, with existing drive-thru options. In some cases, they also have more resources if they’re part of a national chain, compared to a small independent operation.
Steve Hewins — President and CEO of Hospitality — agreed with Myall’s statement.
Drive thru sales have excelled, because it has been deemed safe by nearly all customers.
Hewins further stated that some places — like Chipotle — have changed their entire operations to contactless delivery or pick-up. Places like those have a strong demand and good pay for all of their workers.
However, due to COVID-19 many businesses — not just places like Burger King — have had to close their doors. This has placed havoc on people hunting for work.
Closing Burger King Locations in Maine
The four Burger King restaurants that are closing are owned by Steve Wegner of Orono, Maine. The closing stores are located on Camden Street in Rockland, Hogan Road in Bangor, Stillwater Avenue in Orono, and High Street in Ellsworth.
Between the four restaurants, there were roughly 80 to 100 people employed, according to a representative for Wegner. The person further stated that there are two other Burger King locations still operating. These locations have different owners and are located on Union Street in Bangor and on Wilson Street in Brewer.
Wegner had hoped the owner would be willing to renew the four Burger King’s under a different owner. However, the company did not agree to the terms, according to Wegner’s representative.
We tried until the very last second. This was the last thing the owner wanted — to put people out of work.
The representative further explained that Wegner has been in poor health. She also implied that the restaurants could have kept “running like a well-oiled machine” without his management.
Written by Sheena Robertson
Source:
Bangor Daily: 4 Maine Burger King restaurants are closing for good; by Charles Eichacker
Featured and Inline Image Courtesy of Mike Mozart’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License