Rubio's Coastal Grill, a beloved restaurant chain known for their fish tacos, has announced that they will be closing 48 locations in California due to the 'rising cost of doing business.''The closings were brought about by the rising cost of doing business in California,' said a statement from a Rubio's spokesperson. 'While painful, the store closures are a necessary step in our strategic long-term plan to position Rubio's for success for years to come.
UCLA economist Brian Wheaton says this is the exact type of company that's vulnerable to increased costs of any nature. 'Those business that are ... not doing very well, near the shutdown margin, this increase in costs when they try to pass it on their consumers, ... it may be the thing that pushes them over the edge into a situation where they go out of business,' Wheaton said. ' I think that's the sort of thing we're seeing in the case of Rubio's.