Is Lubbock seeing more business closures than usual? Here’s a look

As 2024 continues to see changes in Lubbock’s business scene, some readers have asked: Is the Hub City seeing more closures than usual?

Here’s how business trends are looking six months in to 2024, and how it compares to 2023. This only looks at Lubbock businesses and does not count businesses that moved from one location to another.

More: Here’s a look into trends, insight of Lubbock businesses in 2023

Which businesses have closed in Lubbock in 2024?

By the end of June, Lubbock lost 18 businesses. Only five of those were not restaurants or food trucks.

On the non-restaurant side, closures and their reasons included:

• Rue 21, 6076 Marsha Sharp Freeway West #300. The clothing retail company is in the process of filing for bankruptcy.
• Shearer’s Foods, 3203 Ave. B, closed on March 31. The facility had been in operations since 2007 and closed due to a “decrease in demand,” according to company officials.
• Reasons were not given for the closures of Soft Surroundings, 8201 Quaker Ave., Unit 116, or Embellish Decor, 5217 82nd #121, in February.
• Catching Whimsy, 3407 98th St. Suite 400., closed in early January. The owners stated they were focusing on their other two businesses – Website Runners and Texas Regional Notary.

Out of these, Shearer’s Foods shook the community and resulted in the termination of 176 jobs. This closure was announced two days after Clayton Dubilier & Rice, a private investment firm, completed the acquisition of Shearer’s.

More: Shearer’s Foods confirms Lubbock facility closing ‘due to decrease in demand’

The other 13 closures were restaurants or food trucks. Here’s what closed, grouped by month, and why:

January: Whip’d Pies, 4406 114th St., Suite 200, said they were looking for a new location at the time. As of July 11, a new location has not been announced. Hub City Burger Bar, 3711 19th St., unexpectedly closed without explanation after only five months in business.

Tom & Bingo’s BBQ, 3006 34th St., said “these West Texas winds have blown us in a different direction & we find ourselves at the end of a great era.” The closure on Jan. 20 of the third-generation restaurant, which opened in 1952, shocked Lubbock barbecue fans. This would not be the only loss in the region’s barbecue scene for the year.

More: Third-generation Lubbock barbecue restaurant, Tom & Bingo’s, to close this weekend

February: Senor Chubby’s Mexican Bar & Grill, 3410 98th St., Suite 1112, announced their Feb. 20 closure less than 48 hours before closing. Owners stated they were pursuing new opportunities. The location is now an Italian restaurant.

March: La Bella Pizza, 2112 50th St., closed without explanation. However, the closure of Rave On, 1300 Mac Davis Lane, inside Buddy Holly Hall, caused a stir in March.

United’s food and beverage division operated the restaurant and concessions inside Buddy Holly Hall, but the partnership came to an end in March. A statement from Lubbock Entertainment / Performing Arts Association mentioned that United wanted to focus on its core retail business and expansion plans.

More: New food, beverage vendor announces plans for Lubbock’s Buddy Holly Hall, Rave On

In the same month, United also closed the last of Market Street stores’ salad bars.

More: No more salad bars at Lubbock Market Street stores, company explains why

April: Roll’n Bros Food Truck sold the business to a new owner, who rebranded it as Rudy’s Scratch Kitchen. This month also brought the closure of the iconic Hill BBQ, 3017 34th St. Hill BBQ’s closure came after months of social media posts calling for customers to visit.

More: Lubbock barbecue restaurant announces closing date after 6 years in business

May: Evie Mae’s BBQ in United at the corner of 114th Street and Slide Road. This became the third United-connected closure in 2024. United then opened their own barbecue offering, SMōK’D Pit Barbecue.

More: Evie Mae’s barbecue to leave south Lubbock United Supermarket location in May

June: Broadway Fish & More, 1702 E. Broadway, closed to pursue the owners’ dreams in the food truck industry. Burklee Hill Vineyards, 1109 Broadway, also closed after 6 years in business. Chop Chop at the corner of 82nd Street and Indiana Avenue closed so the restaurant could focus on the other two locations.

Hooters, 4950 S. Loop 289, closed on June 23. The company decided to close 40 locations that were underperforming, according to a company statement.

More: Lubbock Hooters among 40 suddenly closed in company decision

While July’s numbers are not being used in these statistics, the month has already brought the closures of four businesses – The Fresh American, Joe’s Crab Shack, Lubbock Escapes and Urban Vibez Nutrition.

Are more businesses opening or closing in 2024 than 2023?

Comparing the closings in all of 2023 to six months into 2024, Lubbock is slightly below the halfway mark at 42%. Similar to last year, the community lost several popular businesses early on, which is likely what prompted the question.

More: 43 Lubbock businesses closed in 2023, here’s a look at what left and why

The same comparison for openings showed a slight increase at 52%. In 2023, the most openings happened in August and December, so there is potential for that lead to increase by the end of the summer, if the pattern continues.

More: Here’s a look at Lubbock’s 111 businesses that opened in 2023

What types of businesses are opening, closing in Lubbock so far in 2024?

To no one’s surprise, food- and drink-based businesses made up the majority of openings and closings. Overall, restaurants took up 83% of closures and 47% of openings. The closures are up from last year’s 63%, and openings are fairly similar to 2023.

The year so far has seen three notable barbecue restaurants close, along with two upscale options – Rave On and Burklee Hill.

On the opening side for food- and drink-based locations, there were 27 total: five mobile trucks, four sandwich shops, three each for Mexican, American and drink stops, two each of barbecue and Asian restaurants, and one each for Persian, Italian, Japanese, Mediterranean and Australian.

Non-food business openings for this report are broken down into these categories: health (includes hospitals and spas), retail (clothing, pet accessories, etc.), service (includes banks, childcare, real estate, salons, etc.), and entertainment. Retail had the most with 14, followed by service at nine, then health and entertainment businesses tied with four each.