Whatever Happened To The Food Court Superstar Sbarro?
NEWS
By SARAH LINTAKOON
The New York-style pizza chain Sbarro was popular in food courts in particular, with few locations outside of malls, but it started to fall off toward the early 2000s.
Sbarro grew in the '80s and '90s but faced heavy competition from chains like Pizza Hut and Domino's during the 2000s. It was also hit by a decline in the popularity of malls.
As malls became less trendy and competition like online shopping became more and more prevalent, Sbarro saw massive losses that forced it to file for bankruptcy in 2011.
There were attempts to establish Sbarro in other markets, including opening international locations and creating a line of frozen pizzas; the latter proved unsuccessful.
Sbarro's bankruptcy led to massive closures across America, with nearly half of its locations closing in 2014. Ironically, its international locations are still holding strong.
