O'Charley's shut down all of its corporate-owned restaurants on Wednesday, Sept. 9. The Springdale location at 11315 Princeton Pike, just south of West Chester Township, was among those that went dark.

The closures end a 55-year run for the casual-dining chain. Nearby locations in Harrison and Middletown also closed that evening, along with every other company-owned O'Charley's in the country.

Employees learned the news with almost no warning. A worker at the Harrison location on Ring Road told The 812, as reported by Nation's Restaurant News, that "there was some sort of board meeting and this decision was not supposed to get leaked, and I don't even think we were supposed to find out until we showed up for work on Thursday."

Staff were told the restaurants would close at 8 p.m. that Wednesday, WLWT reported. The chain's Facebook and Instagram pages were deactivated, and an O'Charley's spokesperson told Nation's Restaurant News the company did not have anyone available for comment.

Eight Ohio locations were listed among the closures, according to WTHR. In addition to Springdale, Harrison and Middletown, the list includes Cincinnati (Eastgate Boulevard), Canal Winchester, Mansfield and Reynoldsburg. Kentucky locations in Florence and Cold Spring, both within commuting distance of West Chester, also closed.

One Ohio location will stay open a bit longer. The franchised O'Charley's in Niles is expected to close permanently between Sept. 27 and Oct. 4, according to Nation's Restaurant News.

The chain had been shrinking for years. Parent company Cannae Holdings reported in an Aug. 10 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that same-store sales fell 13% in the second quarter of 2026 and that four stores had already closed earlier in the year. The filing counted 49 company-owned and three franchised locations across 13 states. In 2025, the chain's portfolio shrank 11% and sales dropped 19%, according to Technomic data cited by Nation's Restaurant News.

Charlie Watkins founded O'Charley's in Nashville in 1971. The chain once operated nearly 250 restaurants at its peak in the 2000s. In 2023, the company closed about 51 locations, citing a need to preserve cash flow.

No official statement has addressed what happens to gift cards or displaced employees. When O'Charley's closed Ohio locations in 2023, it offered gift-card refunds through its corporate office and helped workers transfer to other stores, the Columbus Navigator reported. With all corporate locations now dark, that option no longer exists.