By: NICOLAS FIERRO
Salina Post
The Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steakburgers on Crawford street has reportedly closed.
This location was built on May 2021 as its first walk-up and drive-thru prototype.
According to JRI Hospitality which is Freddy's largest franchisee, employees were advised 2 weeks in advance before the closing took place. Each employee was offered a chance to apply at any of their other franchise locations in the Salina.
The company also confirmed that one of the driving factors in placing this drive-thru only prototype was due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Drive-thru restaurants soared in sales during that time and JRI stated they saw a huge increase in their drive-thru revenue.
But now the Crawford location was "not sustainable" in sales according to JRI.
Moreover, JRI stated there is talk about a Boba Tea or dirty soda shop that could take place of the former Freddy's location.
The Freddy's location on 9th Street is still in operation and is in no way affected by this.
According to a news release from JRI Hospitality, the company has acquired the restaurant operations of HCI Hospitality, a multi-brand company providing homegrown Midwest hospitality out of Manhattan, KS. This acquisition includes HCI’s Freddy’s restaurant portfolio of 43 units, bringing JRI’s total number of Freddy’s from 88+ units across 15 states to 130+ operations across 18 states.