Fact check: Some Burger King locations are closing, but chain remains open for business

BrieAnna J. Frank, USA TODAY
·2 min read

The claim: Burger King closing all locations

An April 12 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) claims the world’s second-largest fast-food burger chain will no longer be open for its millions of daily customers.

“They (sic) closing all burger kings,” reads the post.

It was shared more than 1,000 times in just over a week.

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Our rating: False

Multiple Burger King locations have closed in recent weeks for reasons that include bankruptcy and disputes between franchise owners and the corporation. However, thousands of locations remain open worldwide.

Dozens of locations closing, but thousands remain open

The company has not made any such announcement in a news release or on its social media accounts. And no reputable media outlets are reporting any overall closure.

The chain’s store locator shows thousands of locations that remain open in the U.S. and around the world.

More: Is the Whopper too small? Lawsuit accuses Burger King of false advertisement of food size.

The chain operates more than 18,000 locations worldwide, and nearly all are owned and operated by independent franchisees, according to Restaurant Brands International, which owns Burger King and several other fast-food chains.

There have been several dozen locations affected by closures across the U.S. in recent months.

A Texas-based franchise owner permanently ended operations in Michigan, which led to more than two dozen Burger King locations in the state shuttering between March 2023 and April 2023, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The closures were attributed to "unforeseen business circumstances" and a lack of agreement between the franchisee and Burger King Corp., the outlet reported.

Additionally, Meridian Restaurants Unlimited filed for bankruptcy in March 2023 and received court permission a month later to close more than two dozen locations in seven states, as reported by the Lincoln Journal Star in Nebraska. The company's court filing seeking the closures indicated other locations could follow suit.

Two Ohio locations closed in April 2023 after the Chicago-based company that owned them, along with others in the area, filed for bankruptcy and there were no bids for the two locations, as reported by WKBN-TV in Youngstown, Ohio.

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the claim for comment.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Several dozen Burger Kings closed in the US, but not all