Business is bad for Chipotle as a result of a string of food poisoning outbreaks last year. According to the Chicago Tribune, the share price has dropped 40% and sales have dropped 30%. I believe it. On Saturday night, around 8:30, Carla and I went to the Chipotle on Ventura Blvd. in Studio City, CA for some tacos. It was nearly empty inside. Only one customer was there when we walked in. He left and a party of two came in. No one else came. I felt sorry for the half dozen people working there. They had nothing to do. (I think they might have been eating peanut butter sandwiches in the back room because Carla and I could both smell it.) Last year at this time, it would have been hopping.
Chipotle has announced that it is closing every one of its 1,900 locations for a few hours on Monday, February 8 to “thank our teams for all of their hard work, to discuss some of the changes we are making to enhance food safety, to talk about the restaurants role in all of that and to answer questions from employees,” said a Chipotle spokesman.
