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Noodles & Company reshapes its footprint with closures, menu revamp, and digital momentum to drive profitability.
Photo by Quan Jing
At 475 restaurants, the story isn’t uniform. Noodles & Company faces uneven performance, with about 20 underperforming stores dragging on results and totaling roughly $2 million in contribution losses. The plan is a disciplined reshaping of the footprint: some doors will close, and closures are expected to accelerate as lease expirations approach. For the current year, management projects 10–15 closures in total, a mix drawn from the underperforming group and other locations. Growth isn’t paused, either: eight new company-owned units have opened year-to-date, and six Portland-area stores have shifted to a new franchise group, lifting the system’s franchised count toward 95. The balance between downsizing and targeted expansion sets the stage for what comes next.
“We’re very pleased with the results from closing underperforming restaurants,” said Mike Hynes, CFO, framing the moves as a way to improve economics. By removing negative cash-flow locations, nearby units often see higher sales and profits. It’s a clean, portfolio-optimization move that aligns capital with execution and guest experience. In practice, it means a leaner fleet, tighter cost structure, and a sharper operational focus in markets with proven demand.