Chili's shutters for the second time in Singapore

In a Facebook post on 25 March, Chili's Grill & Bar announced that it had shuttered all of its restaurants in Singapore - for the second time. The chain had first left Singapore around a decade after its debut in the 1990s. But it made a comeback later around 2009 with outlets in Tanglin Mall, Resorts World Sentosa, Clarke Quay Central and JCube.At the point of writing, the post garnered 266 comments and 458 shares. Many of the comments were from fans lamenting about the departure and sharing what they loved about the restaurants. There was also a lot of curiosity on the reasons that led to the closure and abrupt notice.Chili's Singapore has over 52,000 fans on its Facebook.Marketing has reached out to Chili's for more comments.A check on its website saw a pop-up that simply said that the restaurants were closed but gift cards and rewards points remain redeemable at our Sarpino’s restaurants in Singapore.Chili's operations in Malaysia appears to be as usual. Chili's Malaysia currently has 268,000 fans on its Facebook. Chili's is the flagship brand of Dallas-based Brinker International, which is recognised leader in casual dining.Food and beverage players in Singapore have been facing headwinds in recent years with chains such as Cold Stone Creamery and Sakae Sushi winding down outlets. Speaking to Marketing, Lies Ellison-Davis, non-executive partner at Kantar Consulting said that drivers of lacklustre retail sales often revolve around inconvenient store location, a concept or assortment that is no longer relevant, or service that is no longer in line with customer expectations.