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The Truth Behind Rumors of Bojangles Closing

Due to troubles that many restaurant and fast food chains experienced due to the pandemic, rumors grew that certain fan-favorite chains would be closing their doors for good. That included one of the favorite fast-food chains in the south, Bojangles.  

Horizontal, medium shot of "Bojangle's" Famous Chicken and Biscuits restaurant's

To find out the truth behind these rumors, we’ve researched to find out if there are any truths behind them. And if they started, we found out why. 

Now, let’s find out more about Bojangles, and if it plans to stay open.

Bojangles is a fast-food chain located in only 14 states at the moment, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, with plans to expand into the District of Columbia, as well as Ohio and Texas. 

Their menu brings people in and helps them create a reputation as the leading southern-fried fast-food chain in America—and growing. With popular menu items such as seasoned fired, crispy fried chicken, cajun seasonings, and an all-day breakfast menu including their fan-favorite baked buttered biscuits, all for a low cost.


So, Is Bojangles Closing? 

Rest easy Bojangles lovers, the restaurant chain is staying in business, and business is good.

Bojangles has 622 stores in over 14 states and has plans to keep growing into different regions of the US by 8% each year moving forward. In other words, Bojangles is going strong. 

One benefit of the worker’s shortage is that pay rates increased for those working to attract new staff. 


Where Did These Rumors Come From?

When the pandemic hit, many fast-food restaurants faced a rise in take-out orders and a shortage of workers to fulfill those orders.

This meant that those who were still going to work were often stretched thin in their duties and overworked as a result. 

In response, Bojangles did was close their entire spread of stores all over the US for two days to give their workers a well-needed break.   

According to Restaurant Business Online, the Bojangles company decided that these two “wellness days” were necessary to take the load off of their staff.

The days were unpaid but allowed their overworked employees to catch up and have days off. They could make up the hours later in the week. 

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Bojangles did this once again a few weeks later. The results seemed to help the staff keep going. 


Will It Close in the Future?

With the world the way it is in today, it’s impossible to say what’s just around the corner.

Who could have anticipated where we’d be today back in 2019? But there are some hints for us to take.

As we said, for a company over 40 years old, Bojangles is expanding its presence in the US by 8% per year. This is quite an aggressive growth rate. However, there seem to be customers in line to support it. 

And unlike their competitors—Popeyes, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Chik Fil A—Bojangles has its taste and texture which many prefer.

And unlike these others, the food is presented in a home-cooked way (on plastic trays, and you sit at plastic tables, giving the allusion of an old-fashioned fried chicken or BBQ joint) which gives Bojangles an edge and space in the market to thrive, and plenty of hungry customers to help them.  

Unlike Bojangles, other restaurant chains have found the pandemic more challenging. 


Other Restaurant Closings

With so many changes caused by the pandemic, the way restaurants adapted to Covid-19 challenges saved them.

But many still struggled with employing enough people to run their restaurants, even if they stayed open.

Around 300 Pizza Hut stores closed shop, yet the fast-food pizza giant stayed in business and saw a turnaround in 2021 by changing the way that they got pizzas to their customers.

Other chains, such as Taco Bell, offered innovative means of delivery as well as new menu items. These sorts of adjustments seemed to have the best results. 

Other chains such as IHOP, Chuck E Cheese, and Dave and Buster’s however, did close more doors in 2021 due to labor shortages.

Old Country Buffet filed bankruptcy for the third time in 20 years, and closed more stores—only about 17 remain today. The challenges that these sorts of restaurants faced were due to the nature of their environments. Some were interactive, while others were all you can eat.


So Bojangles is still alive, and well. They have kept their same recipe of success even though the pandemic, and seems to be working. 

Though they closed their doors for 4 days in total to give some rest time for their overworked, sometimes low-paid, employees, they were able to bring their business success back through top-notch quality. 

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We will see how Bojangles adapts in the years to come, or if they will take a turn for the worse. It’s hard to tell as the internet makes food consumption healthier and easier to access, but companies such as Bojangles find new ways to stay relevant. 

But rest easy. Your favorite southern-fried chicken chain is still serving for now. Check out our favorite menu items at Bojangles while you can!

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Written by Brian Nagele

Brian attended West Virginia University, then started his career in the IT industry before following his passion for marketing and hospitality. He has over 20 years experience in the restaurant and bar industry.

As a former restaurant owner, he knows about running a food business and loves to eat and enjoy cocktails on a regular basis. He constantly travels to new cities tasting and reviewing the most popular spots.

Follow him on LinkedIn, Instagram, Quora, Google Guide and Facebook.