Fast food chain Steak ān Shake has been shutting down dozens of its restaurants across the country over the last few years amid struggling sales and narrowly missing bankruptcy in 2021, according to reports.
But the owners of the Augusta location at 4329 Belair Frontage Road say the reasons for its sudden recent closing are entirely its own.
āOne, after COVID it was difficult to retain employees,ā said Preston Moss, who partnered with burger franchise entrepreneur Andy Pye to open the steakburger joint in 2012.
Moss is also the president of Blanchard & Calhoun Insurance, the responsibilities for which exacerbated issues with the restaurant, strained by increasing food costs.
āCorporate would not allow us to adjust to the food crisis, so the margins simply evaporated,ā said Moss. āThere was no reason to keep it open.ā
The franchise location closed on Tuesday, Aug. 22. Compensating the staff took precedence over announcing the shutdown, Moss notes.
āYou say, āWeāre closing,ā employees walk out the door right then,ā he said. āSo we did make sure that everybody was paid.ā
According to Rebusiness Online, the Palomar Group brokered a $2.8 million sale of the property to an investment firm based in Connecticut. Columbia County property records show the current owner as Ararat Miracle LLC, a business entity based in Connecticut.
Moss confirms that a new concept is coming to the building, though he said he doesnāt know, as of yet, what it will be.
āItās so unfortunate, because I love the concept,ā he said. āI brought it to Augusta because Iād always find myself seeking one out when I was traveling, and it was a great product. Delicious burgers and shakes. Itās just that I can’t be in the nonprofit business and run [another] business.ā
Furniture at the restaurant is being sold by auction online, via Palm Bay, Fla. company Vanish Auctions, closing at noon on Tuesday, Sept. 5.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
