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Guzman y Gomez ceased trading at all eight of its Chicago-area restaurants on Thursday, ending the Australian fast-casual chain's six-year push into the U.S. market and generating a charge of between US$30 million and US$40 million in its 2026 full-year results.
The company said cash exit costs — covering lease liabilities, employee costs, and other contractual commitments — are not expected to exceed US$15 million, and that the one-time charges are not expected to affect its final dividend for fiscal year 2026.
"I have always been confident in the differentiation of our food and guest experience, however this was not translating to an improvement in sales momentum," founder and co-CEO Steven Marks said in a statement. "Having spent the last 3 months in the US, I realized this was going to take significantly more time and capital than we had expected."
As recently as February, the company had publicly reaffirmed its commitment to the U.S. market, making Thursday's closure a sharp about-face, Reuters reported. Operating in the U.S. had proven persistently difficult, with rising costs across fuel, food, and labor squeezing margins; the company's shares had also never recovered to their 2024 IPO price of A$22.00, Reuters reported.
