Denny’s closes another 5 locations in Minnesota and Wisconsin

Denny’s closes another 5 locations in Minnesota and Wisconsin

Wed, September 9, 2026 at 11:03 PM GMT+3 2 min read

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Denny's has closed five more locations. According to Fast Company, franchisee M15 Inc. said it has accumulated unsustainable debt and plans to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

The Spartanburg, S.C.-based diner chain confirmed the closures of the restaurants, four of which are located in Minnesota and one in Wisconsin, and said that it was, "working with urgency alongside our franchise network to explore every viable path to reopen as many of these restaurants as we can."

These closures are on top of an additional 150 closures of underperforming Denny's restaurants in 2024 and 2025. At the time, Denny's Corp. said that it was cleaning up the "lower-performing fifth" of its portfolio in order to "increase average unit volumes from $1.9 million to a target of $2.2 million per store."

In January, Denny's was acquired by New York-based private equity firms TriArtisan Capital Advisors and Treville Capital Group and franchisee Yadav Enterprises for $620 million. In April, CEO Kelli Vallade stepped down and was replaced by COO Christopher Bode, who was promoted into the role.

Bode now leads the company in tackling its turnaround plan called Project Grand Slam, which prioritizes the modernization of the 73-year-old brand that is mostly known for its classic breakfast items. As part of the plan, Denny's launched its first national catering program this summer to add a new revenue stream and bolster sales during typically slower weekday daytime hours.

In 2025, Denny's shuttered 4.5% of its locations and sales declined by 2%, according to Technomic data.

Contact Joanna at joanna.fantozzi@informa.com