O’Charley’s closes remaining corporate-owned restaurants amid declining sales
The 55-year-old casual dining chain O’Charley’s is shutting down its last corporate-owned locations after a steep drop in customer traffic and sales, according to staff and its owner Cannae Holdings.
Casual-dining chain O’Charley’s Restaurant & Bar is closing its remaining corporate-owned restaurants nationwide, employees said to local media. Managers at six of the eight remaining Middle Tennessee sites told WKRN that staff were notified the restaurants would cease operations at 8 p.m. on Wednesday.
The company has not issued a public statement, did not respond to WKRN inquiries, and its primary social-media accounts have been disabled while its website was inaccessible on Thursday morning.
Cannae Holdings, which owns a 65.4% stake in O’Charley’s, reported that guest counts fell 23.8% in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier, and comparable store sales declined 13.1% in the quarter and 12.8% over the first half of the year, according to filings with the SEC. The Las Vegas-based investment firm said the chain has struggled to maintain customer traffic despite efforts such as menu changes, service improvements, and closing underperforming locations. Cannae added it is exploring "strategic alternatives" for the restaurant group as part of a broader portfolio transformation.
Founded in 1971 in Nashville, O’Charley’s expanded to hundreds of sites across the Southeast and Midwest before reducing its footprint in recent years. Earlier this year the chain operated 52 locations nationwide.