With no warning, chicken chain closes NJ locations

PDQ, a national chicken chain, first opened in New Jersey in Sicklerville late in 2015. Less than a year later, also in Camden County, another opened in Cherry Hill.

People liked them. They became part of the community. They were often compared to Chick-fil-A for their offerings of chicken sandwiches, nuggets, tenders, plus salads and milkshakes. PDQ if you’re wondering stands for People Dedicated to Quality.

A third New Jersey PDQ location had recently opened in Marlton, the first in Burlington County.

Now that new one is suddenly the only one in the state.

PDQ restaurants shut down

Very abruptly, without warning, both Sicklerville and Cherry Hill locations were closed down. In a rather sterile corporate statement that offered no explanation, the following was said:

Sicklerville & Cherry Hill Friends, We are sad to announce that we have made the very difficult decision to close our Sicklerville & Cherry Hill PDQ locations. Our team has become deeply connected to the community and we will miss seeing you, our loyal guests every day.

Really? I guess quality doesn’t mean communication. I wonder how much notice their employees were given.

Could the Cherry Hill closure have anything to do with the fact that Raising Cane’s is about to debut just down the road from the now-closed PDQ?

Raising Cane’s is another chicken joint. That’s a much larger chain of more than 700 across the country now debuting in the Garden State. Whereas PDQ has just over 5 dozen locations nationally.

If that coming competition has anything to do with the sudden closures it wouldn’t bode well for the sole PDQ left in Marlton. There’s a Raising Cane’s due to open with 3 miles of it.

If that Marlton one should fold the closest PDQ would be out on Long Island. And no one’s going that far for a Big Buffy Bleu Sandwich Meal.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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