After ten years in the Windsor market, Buffalo Wild Wings has closed its location at Devonshire Mall.
The location initially opened in April 2013. Buffalo Wild Wings is owned by American company, Inspire Brands.
On Monday, signage was seen being removed from the building.
A former Buffalo Wild Wings server, who had been with the company for six and a half years and wished to remain anonymous, spoke with AM800's The Shift with Patty Handysides.
She says staff were notified of the immediate closure on Sunday during a paid pre-scheduled meeting.
"We walk in there, all the staff is there. Our general manager, all of the managers of the store and our district manager. And they just told us that we'd be one of the two or three Buffalo Wild Wings in Canada to close, and that Inspire Brands wasn't doing well."
She says roughly 40-50 people were let go and says the managers offered help to them after giving them the news.
"You know the manager's were very helpful as to you guys can always reach out to us. We do have employment opportunities if you guys need them. We can collect E.I., we can get our severance pay."
She says most staff were visibly upset after receiving the news.
"There was only a handful of us that have been there for five plus years, so I think we're the ones that took most of the toll. Our general manager has been there since the beginning with us, so it was really upsetting knowing that you're not going to be my boss anymore. She was really good with us and she treated us like her own kids."
A man was seen taking down signage at the former Buffalo Wild Wings location at Devonshire Mall after closing Sunday, June 25, 2023. (Photo by AM800's Rob Hindi)
AM800 News reached out to Buffalo Wild Wings parents company, Inspire Brands, but did not hear back.
Last month, CTV News Toronto reported the chain abruptly closed some of it's Ontario locations in Oakville, London, Ajax, Stoney Creek, and Vaughan.
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Buffalo Wild Wings said that it had made the "difficult decision" to close "a few" of its locations in the province.
Buffalo Wild Wings did not specify the reasoning behind the seemingly abrupt closures, outside of saying it "routinely evaluates locations to serve out guests best."
-With files from AM800's The Shift & CTV News Toronto