Boston Market Closing: New Jersey Shutters 27 Restaurants Over Unpaid Wages

Have you eaten at a Boston Market restaurant? Are Boston Markets still operating in your city? Chances are the answer is no.

There are 310 Boston Market restaurants remaining in the United States as of July 14, 2023. The state with the most Boston Market locations in the U.S. is Florida, with 44 restaurants. That’s about 14% of all Boston Market restaurants in the United States.

Until recently, New Jersey was the third largest state with 31 locations, but they’ve lost that ranking amid Boston Market closing 27 locations.

Boston Market is a fast-food chain that has almost gone into obscurity since it was purchased in 2020 by the Rohan Group. It was quiet for a while, but then a string of lawsuits returned the brand to the headlines.

Unpaid wages and poor work conditions are among New Jersey worker issues. Let’s explore the history of the business and current Boston market worker issues.

Boston Market Closing: Is it the End of an Era?

To say Boston Market is a dying franchise may be the best way to describe the brand that started from humble beginnings in a Boston storefront. Although the most recent closings only impact the New Jersey Boston Market locations, it appears to be a franchise culture problem.

Since its inception almost 40 years ago, the chain has rebranded itself multiple times.

In the late 90s, the restaurant industry started to take off with the rise of Chipotle and other fast-food chains like Panera Bread. Boston Market was also facing much competition from the grocery industry, which started selling rotisserie chicken.

Current State

Today, Boston Market owners seem out of touch in many ways. One, the cafeteria-style model is outdated and obsolete. Two, workers’ rights are protected by state and federal laws.

Lawsuits might be the final nail in Boston Market restaurants and lead to the brand shutting all its doors.

New Jersey Boston Market Closings

New Jersey’s Department of Labor has put 27 Boston Market restaurants on lockdown after finding that they violated workers’ rights. The company has been ordered to pay employees more than half a million dollars in back wages to 314 employees. The state has also imposed nearly two and a half million fines.

In response to the state’s swift action, the company has asked for a hearing to challenge the state’s findings. As of this writing, no date has been set.

The investigation started in November when a worker filed a complaint at one of the restaurants in Mercer County. It created a domino effect. More than three dozen complaints have been filed, naming several other Boston Market locations.

The labor department’s initial findings include citations for not paying wages, obstructing the investigation, not paying minimum wage, falsifying records, and not paying earned sick leave.

Other Lawsuits

New Jersey worker issues aren’t the only problems Boston Market is facing. The chain is also facing claims of unpaid wages in Massachusetts and Arizona.

In July, Boston Market was hit with a $11.6M lawsuit from U.S. Foods. This distributor primarily provides produce to the chain. The suit claims that in 2022, Boston Market started to fall significantly behind on its payments and obligations to U.S. Foods. According to the suit, Boston Market “repeatedly breached its payment obligations.”

Joe Petrecca, assistant commissioner for the New Jersey Labor Department, released a statement on their website. He believes there’s too much competition in the restaurant business for this type of behavior.

His message was clear. With restaurants popping up everywhere, Boston Market should lead the way to ensure employees are treated fairly.

Petrecca has a valid point. Boston Market has been in business long enough to know the rules. There is no valid reason they should be under this type of scrutiny with decades in the restaurant business.

Are Current Owners at Fault?

As of August of 2023, the current owner of Boston Market faces an increasing number of claims brought forward by unpaid vendors and ex-employees.

Boston Market executives, both past and present, have placed blame solely on the current owners, Engage Brand, LLC. They believe the owners haven’t “taken the business to the next level” and that the Boston Market restaurant chain’s failure is inevitable.

Restaurant History

In 1985, co-founder Steven Kolow and co-founder Arthur Cores leased an empty storefront in Newton, MA. They purchased rotisseries to cook chickens, gathered recipes for side dishes, and started their first Boston Chicken location.

The store was a hit, and word-of-mouth spread, leading to stories in the Boston Globe. The article brought customers and lines that stretched out the front of the store.

1989 – 1992

In 1989, co-founder George Naddaff (who owned the Boston area’s first Kentucky Fried Chicken) convinced Kolow and Cores to sell their business to him. Naddaff stayed on to help manage New Boston Chicken Inc. while Kolow kept control of the Newton store.

1992 – 2000

In 1992, the chain was bought by Blockbuster Video executive Scott Beck and his partner. The chain had 217 stores in the U.S. and was making well over a hundred million a year.

In 1995, the name changed from Boston Chicken to Boston Market. The change reflected that the stores now served other meats as main courses, such as turkey, ham, and meatloaf.

By 1997, Boston Market had more than 1,100 stores, making over a billion dollars a year. However, in October 1998, the company filed for bankruptcy and had to close almost 400 stores.

2000 – 2007

McDonald’s then bought Boston Market in May 2000 for $173 million. Boston Market got back on track and even started selling some of their stuff in supermarkets as frozen food packages. The move contradicted what the original owners wanted.

2007 – Present

In August 2007, McDonald’s said they would sell Boston Market to Sun Capital Partners. Then, in April 2020, Sun Capital Partners sold it to Engage Brands LLC, a company owned by the Rohan Group.

What are the Next Steps?

Currently, Boston Market’s closing of 2 restaurants is only temporary. The parent company has requested a hearing and plans to appeal the closings and fines. It remains to be seen what will happen next.

What is certain, the brand cannot move forward until a cultural shift takes place. Have you received unfair treatment or are due unpaid wages? We want to hear about it. Contact our office for a free consultation.