Fast-food chain Arby's is planning to purchase casual dining chain Buffalo Wild Wings for around $2.4 billion. This caps a disappointing quarter for "B-Dubs," which saw sales drop by 2.3 percent.
Buffalo Wild Wings has been struggling, and it's not alone. Fellow sit-down restaurant Ruby Tuesday was sold to NRD Capital in October amid a sales slump, and the parent company of Outback Steakhouse and Carrabba's plans to shutter at least 43 locations.
Things have been rough for the casual dining market recently; it's had to compete with the meteoric rise of popular fast-casual restaurants like Chipotle and Panera Bread.
Lower grocery prices and new food delivery services have also made eating at home a more attractive option.
And to top things off, a similar slump in the retail industry is hitting restaurants as well. And fewer in-person shoppers means fewer hungry customers at nearby restaurants.
But casual dining restaurants aren't going out without a fight. Applebee's and Chili's are trying to stand out from the competition by installing wood-fired grills and offering craft beer options, respectively.
Changing strategies worked for Olive Garden. Reports say its targeted promotions have led to an increase in sales when many other chains were only seeing a decline.
And restaurant mainstay Cracker Barrel is going an entirely different route.
It's opened its own chain of fast-casual restaurants targeted at millennials.
The Arby's-Buffalo Wild Wings deal is expected to close at the start of 2018.
