Capital Region Applebee's and IHop Locations May Close

The coronavirus pandemic continues to claim more businesses and restaurants across the country. This time Dine Brands which owns IHop and Applebee's says it will be closing many locations across the country. According to WKBW.com, there seems to be another cluster of chain restaurants that will have to close citing financial reasons due to the coronavirus pandemic. Dine Brands is the parent company of the International House of Pancakes (IHOP) and Applebee's.

Although Dine Brands states that only fifteen Applebee's will close across the country by the end of the year, IHop will be shuttering one hundred of their restaurants over the next six months. There are two IHop locations in the Capital Region. There is one in Clifton Park and another on Wolf Road in Albany. There are many more Applebee's locations in the Capital Region. There are nine in all in Latham, Queensbury, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Glenville, Glenmont, Saratoga Springs, Johnstown, and Hudson.

IHOP president Jay Johns said this of the pandemic:

"The brand's performance continued to be impacted by the effects of governmental mandated restrictions on dining room operations and soft traffic across day parts, as consumers continue to mainly work from home."

Although we do not know yet which locations will be shut down, I would be upset to lose IHop. After all, there are only two locations left here in the Capital Region. Also, there are many Applebee's locations throughout the Capital Region and I think many people would be sad to see them close as well. The coronavirus pandemic is wreaking havoc on the restaurant industry and only time will tell if we lose our restaurants.