Why another Houlihan’s suddenly closed in NJ

And then there were thirteen.

Only weeks ago there were fifteen Houlihan’s open in New Jersey. Last month with extremely little warning the one in Weehawken closed down due to a dispute with a landlord. It was such a swift closure many of the workers didn’t even know what hit them.

Now it’s happening again but for different reasons. The Houlihan’s on Route 1 in Lawrenceville near Quakerbridge Mall just as quickly shut down for good.

Operating costs and high rent. Second time in five weeks. Operating costs and rent are things you factor in and prepare for. How does a company not see that coming many weeks out? It’s a shame workers, sometimes having been with a place for years, are so suddenly put out in the cold. No notice. Yet a company has to know it’s coming. They see the books. It’s terrible when workers are kept in the dark.

I have fond memories of that particular Houlihan’s. My wife and I went there when we were dating and I lived in Plainsboro. I have a very sweet recollection of having dinner there one Friday night as the snow built up outside then us walking across that big parking lot over to Joe Canal’s for a bottle of wine. We slid everywhere, then had a little snowball fight on the way back to the car. I can’t believe that place is gone. A good friend told me just today that the one sure thing in life is that things always change. True dat.

The thirteen remaining New Jersey Houlihan’s locations are listed below. Hopefully there aren’t bigger things going on within the company that leads to more closures.

Bayonne
Brick
Bridgewater
Cherry Hill
Fairfield
Hasbrouck Heights
Holmdel
New Brunswick
Paramus
Parsippany
Ramsey
Secaucus
Woodbridge

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