Just months since Collins Foods announced that it will be closing its restaurant in Toowong, the company has also decided to stop the food chain operations at Brookside in Mitchelton and at Kogarah in Sydney. Now, many locals in Annerley fear that their neighbourhood Sizzler will follow suit.
KFC comes in as Sizzler goes out?
Late last year, a development application was presented to the Brisbane City Council proposing a “new freestanding fast food restaurant with a drive thru.” According to the application, Annerley’s KFC would be developed and maintained, while Sizzler will apparently be “removed.” Collins Foods has 121 KFC restaurants in Queensland and is the largest franchisee in Australia.
To date, however, there has not been any final word yet on the fate of Sizzler’s Annerley restaurant. In an interview with other members of the media, a spokeswoman said that it is “business as usual” for now at the neighbourhood’s Sizzler store.
“Collins Foods Limited is reviewing the best usage of its Annerley Sizzler restaurant site and is working with Council on this part of its long-term business planning,” she continued. According to her, they are yet to finalise their plans. Proposed changes, if any, would definitely be made known not just to their team members but also to their customers.
What happened to Sizzler?
“Sizzler was a brand of its time and stuck in the past,” said Francis Loughran, food consultancy firm Future Food’s Managing Director. “Sizzler created friendly family restaurants that represented value for money, great service and easy parking. But the market changed and the customers who visit Sizzler is shrinking,” he added.
With many new and more appetizing choices popping out from the menus of more and more family dining establishments, the food chain industry has become a whole lot competitive than it was before. According to Mr Loughran, customers are finding Sizzler boring now from the store’s “never changing menu fatigue.” Feedback from customers seem to reflect this, as well.
“It was looking cold, there wasn’t much change about it and the food was always the same. I think buffet places are past their sell-by-date. Nowadays, I prefer Italian and Chinese restaurants.” — Mr Watson
Although the food chain’s owners continue to claim that the restaurant brand will not be phased out in Australia, they have admitted that they are “no longer investing in the group,” particularly in this country’s market. They have also announced that Collins Foods will focus instead on Sizzler stores in Asia where Australian-owned and All-American diners are still a big hit. In the coming weeks, there will only be an estimated 16 Sizzler establishments left throughout the Australian food chain industry.
Will Sizzler at Annerley survive the axe? Folks in the area will just have to wait and see.
Photo Credit: TripAdvisor.com