At least 60 Crumbl stores have closed in 2026, by Restaurant Business’ count. A Louisville franchisee’s Chapter 7 filing lists $352,780 in debts against $10,000 in assets.
The owners of a Crumbl in Louisville, Kentucky, once told a restaurant trade magazine they hoped to open a third store. This month, the business behind that shop filed for bankruptcy.
That Crumbl, in the St. Matthews area of Louisville, opened in February 2024. Its franchisee filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Oct. 1, WDRB reported, and the shop is now closed.
It’s one of at least 60 Crumbl closures so far this year, according to a count by Jonathan Maze, editor-in-chief of Restaurant Business. He posted the new total on X on Wednesday, Oct. 7.
What does the Crumbl bankruptcy filing show?
A store that owes far more than it owns. The filing lists $352,780 in liabilities and just $10,000 in assets, all of it signs and cookie-making equipment, Maze wrote.
That equipment backs a $269,109 loan from Republic Bank. By Maze’s math, it’s worth about 3.7 cents for every dollar of that loan.
The store took in about $128,143 this year through Sept. 15 and lost more than $17,000, WDRB reported. It also owes the landlord about $69,000, with two and a half years left on the lease, according to Maze.
At one point it ranked in the top 25% of Crumbl stores, Maze wrote. The same owners run two other Crumbl shops around Louisville, and their attorney told Louisville Business First the bankruptcy won’t affect those.
How many Crumbl stores have closed in 2026?
At least 60, by Maze’s count as of Oct. 7. For comparison, Crumbl closed seven stores in all of 2023 and 14 in 2024.
The total store count is slipping, too. Crumbl had 1,101 locations in 2025 and 1,064 so far in 2026, according to a Restaurant Business chart built from Technomic data and Crumbl’s website.
More owners may want out. Maze reported Oct. 1 that Crumbl isn’t letting more franchisees close without the possibility of liquidated damages, which is a penalty spelled out in the contract for ending the deal early.
Why are Crumbl sales falling?
Fewer people are coming in. Visits to Crumbl’s more than 1,000 stores fell 32% from a year earlier, according to Placer.ai data cited by Inc.
August hurt the most. An internal Crumbl document obtained by Restaurant Business showed August sales 70% below the same month two years earlier.
That was the month Crumbl rolled out dirty sodas. A 32-ounce version with 186 grams of sugar drew backlash online, Entrepreneur reported, and CEO Jason McGowan called the chain’s Soda Week the worst week in company history.
McGowan had pitched the sodas to franchisees as a way to lift sales by 20%. At its peak, the average Crumbl store sold about $1.8 million a year, according to Maze. Last year, it was about $1.1 million, Inc. reported.
What did Crumbl’s CEO say about the slump?
He took the blame. “It’s my fault where we are today,” McGowan told franchisees in a presentation that Restaurant Business first reported. He also said, “The buck stops with me.”
McGowan and co-founder Sawyer Hemsley said in May they would step back from day-to-day roles. McGowan says a new CEO is coming soon, plus a new chief financial officer and marketing head, Entrepreneur reported. The company also laid off much of its franchise support staff.
Crumbl didn’t respond to Restaurant Business’ requests for comment, Maze wrote.
Is anything working for Crumbl?
Minecraft, for one. Sales picked up some in September, especially during Crumbl’s Minecraft week, Maze wrote.
The chain also plans to lean less on new cookies. That would be a big change for a brand that built its name on a lineup that changes every week.
Cousins McGowan and Hemsley opened the first Crumbl in Logan, Utah, in 2017. It went from one store to more than 1,000 in seven years, and Maze says it became a $1 billion brand in just six.
So the pink boxes aren’t disappearing. More than 1,000 Crumbl stores are still open this week, and the rotating cookies are still rotating. The owners paying the rent on them are having a much rougher year.
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Hat Tips:
Jonathan Maze on X (Oct. 7, 2026), the closure count, the bankruptcy filing’s assets, loan, lease and top-25% details, and the owners’ earlier talk with Nation’s Restaurant News about a third store; (Oct. 1, 2026), the liquidated damages, peak sales, the September rebound, the menu plans and the $1 billion milestone
WDRB (Oct. 7, 2026), the St. Matthews filing date, opening date, revenue, losses and the attorney’s statement to Louisville Business First
Restaurant Business (Oct. 1, 2026), the August sales document, McGowan’s presentation and the store-count chart from Technomic data
Inc. (Oct. 2, 2026), the Placer.ai traffic drop, the 20% sales pitch and last year’s average store sales
Entrepreneur (Oct. 5, 2026), the dirty soda backlash, the Soda Week remark, the leadership changes and the layoffs
Wikipedia, Crumbl’s founding and its 2023 and 2024 closures
AI Disclosure: All articles are assigned, edited and reviewed by an experienced human editor before posting. Like most modern newsrooms, WebReef Media uses a variety of AI tools to help with accuracy and efficiency. Ways AI may be used in article creation include research, grammar, fact-checking and ideation, as well as occasional AI generated or enhanced thumbnails or graphics. No articles are generated or posted without human oversight or involvement.