After 19 years, The Melting Pot is closing its doors on Saturday.
The Baton Rouge franchise owners announced the impending closure on Facebook and via emails to customers over the weekend.
The owners say they decided not to renew the franchise agreement with The Melting Pot Restaurants Inc. several years ago and had hoped to sell the location tucked in the Esplanade Mall on Corporate Boulevard.
“However, we have been unable to work out a long-term lease deal with our landlord, which makes it impossible to sell,” the statement says.
The 104,000-square-foot shopping center is owned by Richard Hartley and David Vey, who acquired Esplanade Mall—previously called Corporate Square—out of bankruptcy in 1993 for $3.5 million.
Scott Bankston, who manages the property, wouldn’t comment on the fondue restaurant closure, saying he doesn’t discuss any business related to tenants. There is currently not any leases signed for a business to move into the shopping center, Bankston says.
The closure means there will no longer be any The Melting Pot locations in Louisiana. The New Orleans location closed in June due to “ongoing financial losses” that made the restaurant “no longer sustainable.”
A representative of The Melting Pot Restaurants Inc. was unable to be reached before this morning’s deadline for comment.
