Multiple Grand Rapids Area Burger King Locations Abruptly Close

Suddenly there are fewer places to grab a Whopper in the Grand Rapids area.

Have you tried to visit a Burger King recently only to find it's closed?

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Earlier this week I headed to the Burger King on Plainfield to discover an empty parking lot and the lights off. A sign on the door read "Restaurant currently closed. Please visit our location at Alpine/ Pearl."

Indeed, this BK is now listed as "temporarily closed" on Google... but it's not the only one.

Burger King Restaurants Closed in Grand Rapids

The following Burger King locations in the Grand Rapids are all listed as temporarily closed online:

• 2204 Plainfield Ave., Grand Rapids
• 1209 Leonard St. NW, Grand Rapids
• 990 44th St., Wyoming
• 2880 E. Paris, Kentwood
• 590 S State St., Sparta

Phone calls to all of these locations during regular business hours went unanswered.

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Another Burger King I know that shut down in the past few years is on 28th St. between Eastern and Madison.

Why are Burger Kings Closing in Grand Rapids?

So what is going on? Does "temporarily closed" mean the restaurants will reopen?

I can tell you that's not the case with the one on 28th St. I just mentioned. All the signs have been removed from the building and it has been sitting empty.

In 2023 it was reported that Burger King planned to shutdown 400 stores nationwide. At the time CEO of BK's parent company, Restaurant Brands International, said, the company “historically” closes “a couple hundred” Burger King restaurants each year.

This past spring there were rumors circulating on social media that the burger chain planned to shutter all of its locations across the country. According to Reuters, those claims were false and Burger King did not announce the closure of all its locations.

Currently, it's being reported that Burger King is closing hundreds of "underperforming" restaurants while the more successful locations will be updated.

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A Nov. 5 post about the Leonard St. BK closing to the Grand Rapids Informed Facebook Page stated:

Just an FYI to anyone who frequents Burger King on Leonard. Come Friday at 8pm the doors will close permanently.
-They are closing due to corporate not wanting to pay to renovate. There for we are forced to closed down along with 6 other locations.

According to thread on Reddit, aside from the locations listed above, these Burger Kings are confirmed to close as well:

• 750 S. Division, Grand Rapids
• 1313 28th St., Wyoming
• 471 68th St. SW, Grand Rapids

I will say, I drove by the Division location this morning (Nov. 12) and it did still appear to be open...

Are there more Burger Kings you've discovered that have recently closed in the area?