Long John Silver’s in the recent times has stated closing its store faster than sales can grow.
The sea-food chain that celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2019 with almost 900 franchised locations in the US ended 2025 with 479 US restaurants, down 4.6%.
The private chain still cited 16 straight quarters of same-store sales growth. The split makes unit growth the clearer investor signal, Fast Company reported.
Today, its total US store count is roughly half that number, and as the company continues to evaluate its physical footprint, its numbers keep declining.
As per its newly issued franchise disclosure document, Long John Silver’s had just 479 locations as of the end of last year, 23 fewer than it had a year earlier.
Since the beginning of 2023, the chain has seen a net decline of 110 restaurants.
Long John Silver’s, sometimes called LJS, is known for its fish and chips and popcorn shrimp baskets. The chain has been privately held since it was acquired from Yum Brands by a group of franchise owners almost 15 years ago, so its franchise disclosure documents offer a rare window into the health and growth trajectory of its franchise system.
Long John Silver’s spokesperson Laura Ellis said the locations cited in the document closed for various reasons specific to the location’s individual operations, including lease expirations and “routine” business decisions, and that the closures did not represent a wider effort to reduce the chain’s store footprint.
Ellis told Fast Company, “These were individual market decisions and not part of a broad-based closure initiative.”
Long John Silver’s locations closed
• Arizona: 3 closures
• Colorado: 2 closures
• Connecticut: 2 closures
• Florida: 1 closure
• Indiana: 1 closure
• Kansas: 1 closure (company owned)
• Kentucky: 1 closure
• Maryland: 1 closure (company owned)
• Michigan: 1 closure (company owned)
• Missouri: 1 closure
• Nebraska: 2 closures
• New York: 2 closures
• Ohio: 5 closures (including 1 company owned)
• Pennsylvania: 1 closure (company owned)
• South Carolina: 1 closure
• Tennessee: 1 closure
• Texas: 3 closures (including 1 company owned)
• Virginia: 1 closure
Long John Silver’s remaining open locations
As per the once-popular food chain website, it several locations are opened in the following states.
• Arkansas: 6 locations
• Arizona: 3 locations
• California: 14 locations
• Colorado: 2 locations
• Connecticut: 1 location
• Florida: 11 locations
• Georgia: 7 locations
• Iowa: 9 locations
• Illinois: 17 locations
• Indiana: 50 locations
• Kansas: 13 locations
• Kentucky: 44 locations
• Louisiana: 1 location
• Michigan: 20 locations
• Nebraska: 7 locations
• New Mexico: 11 locations
• Massachusetts: 1 location
• Missouri: 17 locations
• New Hampshire: 1 location
• Nevada: 2 locations
• Maryland: 3 locations
• North Carolina: 2 locations
• New Jersey: 1 location
• New York: 2 locations
• Ohio: 51 locations
• Pennsylvania: 24 locations
• Texas: 72 locations
• West Virginia: 18 locations
• Oklahoma: 12 locations
• South Carolina: 7 locations
• Virginia: 27 locations
• Oregon: 1 location
• Tennessee: 21 locations
• Washington: 1 location
