The Steak ’n Shakes on South College Mall Road and North College Avenue are closed.
A sign on the College Mall location’s door says the location is being designated for a franchise partner and will reopen under new ownership.
Steak ’n Shake has 626 locations, according to a 2018 annual report from Biglari Holdings, Steak ’n Shake’s parent company. Many have recently closed across the country.
Steak ’n Shake had a $18.9 million operating loss in the first quarter of 2019 and a $10.7 million loss in 2018. Customer traffic decreased 7.7% during the first quarter, according to the first quarter report.
The annual report states the company is franchising all company-operated units and estimates it will take three years to complete the transition. There were 413 company-operated steak 'n shakes as of Dec. 31, 2018, according to Biglari’s first quarter report, and 44 were temporary closed as of March 31.
The annual report also says the company is changing its process of creating Steakburgers and milkshakes.
The sign on the closed College Mall Steak ’n Shake says it “will be renovating by installing new equipment to improve our speed and customer service.”
The annual report references equipment and kitchen design poorly suited for volume production.
“The effect has been high-cost, labor-intensive slow service,” the report reads. “We failed customers by not being fast and friendly.”
The westside Steak ’n Shake on Liberty Drive is still open.
