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In absolutely shocking sub shop news, Washingtonian reports that Taylor Gourmet, beloved local sandwich chain with over a dozen locations in D.C., is closing every store in its portfolio. The last day for all D.C.-area Taylor Gourmet shops is Sunday, September 23 — two days from today.
There have been rumblings about trouble with Taylor, but no expectations of a closing of this magnitude. Earlier this month Eater D.C. reported that Taylor was considering scaling back a bit, possibly closing three of their stores. Now, all their D.C. stores — plus two in Chicago — will all be closed by weekend’s end. Taylor is also very likely about to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, says Washingtonian.
There are not yet official details on the reason for the mass shutter, though Taylor is officially blaming too-fast expansion. Washingtonian says, however, that a handful of folks close to the business blame a meeting between Taylor owner Casey Patten and President Trump for a huge amount of the trouble. Taylor faced higher than expected backlash after Owner Casey Patten met with President Trump at a business roundtable; an anonymous source told the website that the company’s sales dropped a dramatic 40% the day after the meeting and haven’t improved much since. A spokesperson for the company denied that as a reason for the mass shutter, however.
Updated: A spokesperson confirmed the news to Eater but had no new information to share at this time.
Eater has learned another homegrown brand is lending a helping hand to newly jobless Taylor Gourmet employees. Fast-growing Mediterranean chain Cava is holding a job fair on Tuesday, September 25 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Cava’s Chinatown and Mosaic District locations. “They will be open interviews where any Taylor team member can walk-in and meet with a Cava manager,” spokesperson Ben Famous tells Eater.
Interested employees are encouraged to apply in advance for various Cava positions across the tri-state area.
