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Noodles & Company, the fast-casual chain known for serving an array of noodle-based dishes, will shutter up to 21 restaurants.The brand, founded in Denver, Colorado in 1995, has already closed at least nine locations over the past year. In a conference call last week, chief financial officer Michael Hynes said, “We expect to close 13 to 17 company-owned and four franchise restaurants in 2025.” The most recent count is up from a previous estimate of 12 to 15 company-owned closures. Noodles & Company currently has 380 company-owned restaurants and 89 franchised locations in 31 states. According to the brand’s website, the impending closures are due to higher food costs and increased marketing expenses. Recently, Noodles & Company revamped its menu and, according to QSR, saw revenue tick upward, rising 2% in the first quarter, with same-store sales increasing 4.4% and a 4.7% gain at company-owned locations. And despite the looming closures, Noodles & Company maintains a positive outlook. In a May 7 press release announcing first-quarter financial results, chief executive officer Drew Madsen explained that the company has actually been growing. We are very pleased with the strong comparable restaurant sales and traffic performance we achieved during the first quarter despite a challenging macroeconomic environment, Madsen said. Our momentum is being driven by our fully reimagined new menu that launched on March 12, supported by increased marketing investment and a new brand strategy. Since the new menu introduction, comparable sales have increased by approximately 5% through April. Nation’s Restaurant News also reported that according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Noodles & Company is opening at least two new restaurants this year. Fast-casual restaurants have been struggling amid higher food costs and slower foot traffic. In 2024, TGI Fridays, Bloomin Brands, Hooters, and Dennys all closed underperforming locations, while other chains like BurgerFi, Red Lobster, and Sticky Fingers filed for bankruptcy. Most recently, fast-casual and fast-food chains Chipotle and McDonald’s have seen weaker sales. Noodles & Company has not released a list of the closing restaurant locations and did not immediately respond to a Fast Company inquiry.
Category:
E-Commerce
The head of the Environmental Protection Agency came under bipartisan criticism Wednesday over his agency’s actions to cancel billions of dollars in congressionally approved spending to address chronic pollution in minority communities and jump-start clean energy programs across the country. Nearly 800 grants were awarded by former President Joe Bidens administration under the 2022 climate law, which directed the EPA to spend $3 billion on grants to help low-income and minority communities improve their air and water and protect against climate change. The law allocated another $20 billion under a so-called green bank program to finance clean energy and climate-friendly projects nationwide. Funding for both programs was abruptly terminated by the Trump administration in actions that Democrats have denounced as illegal and unconstitutional. Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat, said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has illegally withheld, or impounded, climate-law funding despite a decades-old law that explicitly prohibits such actions by the executive branch. Repeated court rulings, including by the Supreme Court, support the power of Congress to set federal spending levels. Zeldin’s budget maneuvers endanger communities by making it harder to address pollution and climate chaos, Merkley said at a hearing Wednesday. Varied approaches to questioning the EPA chief Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, chair of a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on the environment, also criticized Zeldin, saying funding freezes approved by his agencyincluding to grants intended for rural communities in Alaskawere somewhat indiscriminate. Murkowski questioned whether severe budget cuts proposed by President Donald Trump were serious. Many of the proposals, such as an 88% cut to a state revolving fund for clean water, are likely to be reversed by Congress, she said. The EPA’s approach under Zeldin is problematic, Murkowski added. EPA has not adhered to our guidelines and has been largely unresponsive to questions,” she said. Zeldin told Murkowski she has a special phone number for his office and can call him any time. His exchanges with Democrats were less friendly. So you understand that when you impound funds, youre violating the law?” Merkley asked Zeldin, a former New York congressman who took over at EPA in January. No, Senator, we are going to follow all statutory obligations,” Zeldin replied. We absolutely disagree with you very strongly.” Asked under what authority the money was being withheld, Zeldin cited policy priorities under Trump that differ from Biden-era views. But it wasnt the Biden administration that passed this law. It was Congress,” Merkley shot back. And so, this is in the law as written, and its signed by the president, and yet youre defying it.” Zeldin said he rejected Merkley’s premise, adding, “We couldnt possibly disagree more strongly with what youre saying.” If he can’t follow his oath of office, Zeldin should resign, Merkley said, a suggestion Zeldin immediately rejected. Accused of trying to burn it down Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state said Zeldin and Trump shared an approach when it comes to EPA: “Burn it down.” Money being withheld by EPA would pay for things like heat pumps to reduce energy costs and pollution, wildfire preparedness and infrastructure upgrades to protect drinking water from floods and earthquakes, Murray said. “Blocking this funding is hurting communities everywhere,” she said. Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff asked Zeldin why he had canceled a $19.8 million grant to Thomasville, Georgia, to replace a wastewater collection system and build a community health clinic. Is a new health clinic for Thomasville woke? Ossoff asked, noting that the grant was approved under an environmental justice program the EPA has terminated. Zeldin again cited policy priorities before Ossoff, a Democrat, cut him off. “You hurt my constituents,” he said. Zeldin later said grants to Thomasville and towns in Alaska and Washington state may be restored if language about environmental justice and diversity is removed, in accordance with an executive order by Trump. Zeldin declined to provide specific goals for EPA staffing under his tenure, but appeared to acknowledge claims by Merkley and Murray that staff totals could return to a level last seen under former President Ronald Reagan. The EPA had fewer than 11,000 employees in 1983, compared to more than 15,100 in 2024. The agency has laid off hundreds of employees and offered voluntary retirement or deferred resignations to thousands more as part of a broader effort by Trump and adviser Elon Musk to downsize the federal workforce. Matthew Daly, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), under acting director Russell Vought, canceled proposed new rules this week that would have protected Americans sensitive private dataincluding financial data, credit history, and Social Security numbersfrom being collected by data brokers without consent and sold to advertisers and other third parties. The proposed rules, which were crafted in December by the Biden administrations CFPB director, Rohit Chopra, were aimed at protecting consumers from commercial surveillance practices that threaten our personal safety and undermine Americas national security. (Wired, for example, reported in February that U.S. data brokers were using Google’s ad-tech tools to sell access to information about devices linked to military service members and national security decision-makers.) Proposed rules clarified that many data brokers are in fact consumer reporting agencies, like the credit bureaus, which already must comply with the privacy and accuracy rules in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). For example, under those requirements, data brokers would have to get explicit consent from consumers before collecting and selling their data. But on Tuesday, the Vought-led CFPB quietly announced in the Federal Register that it was withdrawing the proposed rules, stating that they are not necessary or appropriate at this time. The CFPBs argument against the proposed rules revolved around a single comment left during the public comment period about the proposed rules propriety under the plain text of the FCRA. Data privacy advocates have been fighting for years to make data brokers subject to the FCRAs privacy rules. The withdrawal of the proposal is a victory for large data brokers such as Acxiom and Epsilon, for the consumer websites that sell data, and for the vast digital advertising ecosystem that uses the data to target ads. While many consumers are unaware of the vast personal data marketplace centered around data brokers, privacy advocates immediately saw the death of the proposed rules as a major setback. The data broker industry is out of controldata brokers threaten our privacy, national security, physical safety, and economic security every day, said Electronic Privacy Information Center law fellow Caroline Kraczon in a statement Tuesday. The CFPBs withdrawal of the proposed rules is another attack in the administrations war against consumers on behalf of corporate interests. At the state level, California, New Jersey, and Vermont have passed legislation giving consumers the right to demand that data brokers delete sensitive personal information about them.
Category:
E-Commerce
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