Hickory Tavern Trims Footprint Amid Brand Revitalization

Hickory Tavern Trims Footprint Amid Brand Revitalization

Mon, August 24, 2026 at 7:07 PM GMT+3 3 min read

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Hickory Tavern closed four restaurants as parent company Artistry Restaurants concentrates resources on locations it believes have stronger long-term prospects.

The closures include Hickory Tavern restaurants in Mooresville, Huntersville, and Providence Road in North Carolina, along with Columbia-Vista in South Carolina. Artistry said proximity to other Hickory Tavern restaurants played a role in the decision, allowing the company to direct investment, team resources, and operational support toward the remaining system.

The chain now has 16 restaurants across the Carolinas.

"While never an easy decision, it is important that we regularly evaluate where we can operate more efficiently so our resources and future investments are directed toward the priorities that will best serve our teams and guests," Artistry Restaurants CEO Bryan Lockwood said in a statement. "These changes, along with other efficiencies, will support Hickory Tavern's long-term plan and strength as a brand."

Customers of the shuttered restaurants will have alternatives within the existing footprint. Artistry pointed to nearby Hickory Tavern locations in Harris, Ballantyne, Sun Valley, North Carolina and Columbia-Woodhill, South Carolina.

The move comes roughly 19 months after Artistry acquired Hickory Tavern in January 2025 and began putting resources behind the longtime Carolina concept.

Since the acquisition, Artistry has rolled out a menu refresh, restaurant redesigns, a new brand book of standards and practices, and partnerships with companies including Sysco. The company said those initiatives were part of an effort to strengthen Hickory Tavern's position in its communities and improve the guest experience.

Those investments have been unfolding under brand president Tony Read, an industry veteran who spent three decades with Outback Steakhouse before joining Hickory Tavern. Read told FSR magazineearlier this year that he viewed the chain's established place in North and South Carolina as one of its biggest strengths.

"We are a neighborhood gathering spot," Read said. "It was definitely the feeling that I got when I came in here."

"Even though we're slated as a sports bar, I think we're bigger than that and the community feels that. That's why we've always pitched ourselves as this neighborhood gathering spot," he added.

Hickory Tavern has spent nearly three decades operating as a sports bar, family restaurant, and community gathering place across the Carolinas. Artistry's acquisition brought the concept into a portfolio that also includes Oak & Stone, Shrimp Basket, Boca, Atlantic Beer & Oyster, Sandbar Amelia Island, and The Chapman.

Read's early work with Hickory Tavern focused in part on its people and restaurant culture. He said his belief that the guest experience cannot surpass the employee experience influenced how he began his tenure with the company.

"I'm a firm believer that the guest experience will never exceed the team member's experience," Read previously told FSR magazine. "You ever go to a drive-thru, and you get to the window—how long does it take you to recognize if that person wants to be there or not? Immediately. And what I tell my team is how foolish of us to think that our customers don't have that same ability."

That focus will now extend to employees affected by the four closures. Artistry said it plans to work with those workers to identify potential transfers to other Hickory Tavern restaurants.

The post Hickory Tavern Trims Footprint Amid Brand Revitalization appeared first on FSR magazine.