Customers weren’t the only ones surprised when they found out the KFC/Taco Bell in Atlantic City closed Thursday.
Workers were called into a meeting Thursday morning and told the longtime location at 1501 Atlantic Ave. was closing permanently, a worker told BreakingAC.
“They closed it right then and there at 10 a.m.,” Dayionna Taylor said.
Taylor started working there in March 2017, and within a year was promoted to shift manager.
She said it had been a pleasure working for Summerwood Corporation, the Conshohocken, Pa.-based company that owned the business and more than 100 similar restaurants.
Messages left for Summerwood and KFC were not returned.
Taco Bell’s public relations confirmed only that the location is permanently closed.
Employees were told only that “company reasons” caused them not to renew the lease.
They then gave the address of the nearest location — 712 E Black Horse Pike in Pleasantville, which is right by the nearest KFC.
A sign at the boarded-up business also rerouted customers to the Pleasantville locations.
But, the company did not do the same for employees, Taylor said.
Unlike when other locations closed, there were no offers of employment at another restaurant, she said.
They were told they could file for unemployment.
“But it’s the thing that the other stores got shut down, but everyone was relocated,” Taylor said. “No one from our store was relocated.”
Employees worked all of Thursday and Friday cleaning the store before their employment ended, she said.
“We worked very hard every day just to find out the store is now up for grabs,” Taylor said. “(The team) managed to keep that store up and running and in good shape for 20 years. This was starting to be a new journey for me.”
