Rubio’s Coastal Grill, a fast-casual Mexican restaurant primarily based in Carlsbad, has abruptly closed 48 shops in California, citing the rising price of doing enterprise within the state.
The corporate didn’t elaborate on the closures, which got here Friday and shocked staff, however it got here two months after the state’s $20 an hour minimal wage took impact for fast-food workers.
Rubio’s mentioned it could maintain working 86 remaining places in California, Arizona and Nevada.
The corporate, in an announcement Monday issued by media strategist Sitrick and Co., mentioned the choice got here after a “thorough evaluate of its operations and the present enterprise local weather.” A Sitrick spokesperson mentioned no Rubio’s government can be out there to remark.
The corporate didn’t say what number of workers have been let go, however feedback posted on social media by workers mentioned they got no discover, with some saying they obtained cellphone calls over the weekend that their jobs had been eradicated.
The corporate was based in 1983 by Ralph Rubio, who started with a walk-up stand in San Diego. It had practically 200 shops going into 2020, however later that 12 months, hit arduous by the pandemic, the corporate filed for chapter safety and underwent an entire restructuring. Rubio’s attributed the issues to greater prices then as nicely, citing minimal wage will increase particularly as an element.
Rubio’s, in its temporary assertion Monday, mentioned: “Whereas painful, the shop closures are a essential step in our strategic long-term plan to place Rubio’s for fulfillment for years to return.”
The chain, which was acquired by the personal fairness agency Mill Highway in 2010 for $91 million and brought personal, beforehand glided by “Residence of the Fish Taco,” “Rubio’s Baja Grill” and “Rubio’s Contemporary Mexican Grill.”
