'We Have The Meats' Chain Is Quietly Closing Restaurants Across The US

Actor Ving Rhames has boomed "We have the meats!" and other slogans for Arby's in the last ten years. However, this famous catchphrase no longer rings true in some parts of the country. Arby's stores have been quietly shutting down all across America, forcing the meats to be had elsewhere.

Arby's closed 48 stores in 2024, per National Restaurant News, as well as 14 locations so far in 2025. Three Memphis, Tennessee area stores closed in October. In California, a Fresno store closed in September, and in November, another closed in Victorville. Talleyville, Delaware and Pullman, Washington saw closures in June, and North Charleston, South Carolina in July. Four Jacksonville, Florida area stores closed early in 2025, as did locations in Audubon, New Jersey and Laurel, Maryland.

With so many restaurants struggling with bankruptcy in 2024 and 2025, plus the rising price of beef, it can be easy to assume Arby's sudden restaurant closures might spell disaster for the brand on the whole. National Restaurant News reported that Arby's sales were down 6.3% in 2024, but 48 closures out of Arby's 3,365 United States locations represented just a 1.4% closure. Nonetheless, more trouble may lie ahead for Arby's and other fast food retailers as they grapple with rising food prices and soaring operational costs as well as fallout from the sweeping tariffs. Arby's may also have a personal brand issue to battle, even as its successful parent company continues to make strong strides.

Arby's was founded in 1964 for quick diners looking to grab something other than a burger on the road. Even today, Arby's has maintained its position as a seller of roast beef sandwiches and seasoned curly fries. Arby's is owned by Inspire Brands, which is majority-owned by Roark Capital,  and the multi-brand super force isn't exactly hurting. Besides Arby's, Inspire Brands owns Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin', Jimmy John's, and SONIC. If these brands represented one chain, the only others to outperform it would be Starbucks and McDonald's. So complete mismanagement or death by too much expansion doesn't seem to be the reason behind the Arby's store closures — at least, not at the moment.

Per NRN, Arby's 2024 sales were just under the two highest-selling sandwich chains, Subway and Panera. However, both these top-earning chains also lost money in sales that year, with Subway at a loss of 3.8% and Panera losing 5.1%. All to say, even the top fighters in meat selling cannot escape lower consumer spending in inflation and tariff-stressed times. 

Weak sales are listed in some Arby's franchisee bankruptcy filings, as well as much higher costs to staff the stores. Lower sales aren't unique to Arby's, although customers whose locations closed may feel particularly slighted. A class-action lawsuit has already been brought against the chain for not providing a true volume of meats. Arby's might still stay strong enough and continue to have the meats despite low sales, but it may also seriously suffer from the phenomenon known as shrinkflation.