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CUSTOMERS are saddened as a major fast food chain continues to close restaurants.

Summit Restaurant Holdings, a franchisee of Hardee’s, filed for bankruptcy this spring.

While not all of Hardee's restaurants are operated by Summit, a number of the fast-food brand's stores have closed since then.

In September, Hardee's stores in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, and in Mandan, North Dakota, closed their doors for good.

And a Hardee's location in Carthage, Missouri, abruptly closed on August 31.

In addition, two Hardee's stores in Casper, Wyoming, closed during the same month.

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While the exact reasons for some of the closings are not clear, customers have grown tired of watching their favorite fast-food restaurants close nearby.

One on X recently tweeted with a sad face emoji: "The Hardee's where I live is closing down."

Another wrote: "They’ve started closing Hardee’s left and right up here. I’m sick."

And a third user said: "In my area (Wheeling,WV) the only local Hardee's closed down. This was a few years ago. The issues were the age of the building and the condition it was in plus the fact that the sales volume was low resulting in it in closing for good. That location was like family."

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Ahead of filing for bankruptcy, Summit closed 39 restaurants.

Before then it had 145 restaurants.

But Summit did find a buyer, as private equity firm High Bluff Capital Partners has agreed to acquire the ownership of 81 Hardee's restaurants.

Now High Bluff operates stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, and Wyoming.

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But Summit isn't the only fast food operator to struggle.

Two Burger King franchisees, Meridian Restaurants Unlimited and Toms King declared bankruptcy.

But Meridian, which had 91 locations when it filed for bankruptcy, has found multiple buyers.

Burger King has agreed to buy 32 stores in Montana, Utah, and Wyoming.

And another 38 Meridian locations will go to Burger King franchise owners.

Also, Friendly’s, which had 850 restaurants three decades ago, has filed for bankruptcy twice in the past decade-plus.

Since 2019, Friendly's has reportedly closed at least 55 restaurants and only now has more than 100 locations left in the US.

One of them was scheduled to close on Sunday, September 24 in Johnson City, New York.

And bankrupt Katz Cafe, known for its presence in the southeast, has shut down all of its remaining restaurants.

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“We are sorry to announce that after proudly serving this and many other communities for years Fatz Cafe will be closed permanently,” the former casual diner told customers in a note.

“All existing locations closed effective 8/23/2023. We thank you for your support throughout our years in business.”

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