NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — For more than 50 years, O’Charley’s has been a fixture across Middle Tennessee. Now, employees and longtime customers are grappling with the apparent end of an era.
NewsChannel 5 has learned that some, if not all, O’Charley’s locations in Middle Tennessee are expected to close Wednesday at 8 pm. Employees at multiple locations told NewsChannel 5 they were informed Tuesday that Wednesday would be their final day on the job.
NewsChannel 5 reached out several times to O’Charley’s corporate office seeking confirmation of the closures, but had not received a response as of Wednesday afternoon.
The restaurant chain traces its roots to Nashville. The first O’Charley’s opened on 21st Avenue near Vanderbilt University in 1971 before the brand expanded across the Southeast, eventually growing to hundreds of locations during the 1990s and early 2000s.
For longtime customers, the closures are about more than losing a favorite place to eat. For some, it's the food. “The O’Charley Club,” said customer Anthony Jones.
“I love their chicken tenders,” said former employee Krys Midgett.
But for many, the restaurant’s greatest legacy is the memories made inside its dining rooms. Those include birthdays, family gatherings, first dates, and even marriages. “Really it was a tutoring session,” Midgett joked while recalling how she first met her future husband at O’Charley’s.
Whatever Midgett wants to call it, it turned into a lasting relationship. “I wound up failing that semester of math, but we wound up getting married four months later,” she said.
O’Charley’s did more than introduce Midgett to her husband. She also spent years working as a server. “I loved that job so much,” Midgett said. “Some of my best memories from working while in college was O’Charley’s.”
While customers are mourning the loss of a longtime Tennessee brand, many employees are facing a more immediate concern: the loss of their jobs.
Lecia Curran said her mother, Linda, spent 24 years working at the O’Charley’s location in Manchester and hoped to retire there. “If you know the Manchester O’Charley’s, you know Linda,” Curran said.
According to Curran, her mother received a call from corporate officials Tuesday informing her of the closure. “She’s devastated,” Curran said. “She’s in her mid-60s, been there for 24 years. Every time I talk to her, she’s just crying.”
Curran said the lack of advance notice has made the situation even more difficult. “Losing your paycheck with 24-hour notice is going to hurt everyone,” she said.
Curran has set up a GoFundMe for her mother as she figures out her next steps.
Customer Anthony Jones said he sympathizes with workers suddenly facing uncertainty. “I don’t wish that on anybody,” Jones said.
For many of the restaurant’s loyal customers, the final days are becoming a chance to revisit a place that played a significant role in their lives. “Actually we’re going to eat at this O’Charley’s for lunch, and tonight my husband and I are going to the one in Hermitage,” Midgett said.
As employees await answers about their future, customers are left reflecting on decades of memories tied to a restaurant that began in Nashville and became a Middle Tennessee institution.
NewsChannel 5 found no record that O’Charley’s had filed a mass-layoff notice with the state. The station has contacted the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development to ask whether the reported closures would trigger any notification requirements. A department spokesperson said an answer would be provided as soon as possible.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
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