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New Hampshire
Outback Steakhouse closes in Seabrook: One of 41 restaurants on the chopping block
SEABROOK — Outback Steakhouse in Seabrook was one of dozens of locations across the United States permanently shut down last week by the chain’s parent company.
U-Haul trucks were seen outside the restaurant at 712 Lafayette Road (Route 1) Monday, with crews moving out equipment and furniture. According to the recording on the restaurant’s Seabrook phone, the eatery “is permanently closed,” with advice that callers visit Outback.com to find other Outback locations still open for business.
The Outback location in Seabrook was the only one in New Hampshire.
Owned by Florida-headquartered Bloomin’ Brands, Inc., Outback is just one of the food service company’s chain restaurants, which also includes Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse, Bonefish Grill and Aussie Grill.
Elizabeth Daly, director of media and community relations for Bloomin’ Brands, Inc, said “closing a restaurant is never easy.”
“This was a business decision that is not a reflection of the management or staff,” she said. “We appreciate the community’s support over the past 8 years and hope to see you at our Peabody restaurant.”
According to the Feb. 23, 2024, announcement to investors posted on the Bloomin’ Brands website, in the last quarter of 2023, the company decided “to close 36 predominantly older, underperforming restaurants and three U.S. and two international Aussie Grill restaurants.” The expectation was that all closings would be completed during the first quarter of 2024, which ends March 31.
Additionally, the report also indicated the company would be opening “40 to 45 system-wide restaurants.”
A majority of the restaurants closing “were older assets with leases from the ’90s and early 2000s,” according to Bloomin’ CEO David Deno.
In the announcement to investors, Deno said, “The fourth quarter was a good finish to 2023, especially the holiday season. As we head into 2024, we remain focused on elevating the guest experience that in turn will drive sales and profit growth at Outback Steakhouse and all of our brands.”
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Seabrook shocked by Outback Steakhouse closing
Many on local social media pages were upset about the lack of notice Seabrook’s Outback employees received of the closing with some expressing concern for employees who lost their jobs.
In addition, there were comments about what to do with still unused Outback gift certificates.
Daly said employees will have the opportunity to transfer to another restaurant. Those who do not, she said, will receive a severance package.
If guests have questions about gift cards, Daly said they can call 813-282-1224 ext. 3032.
According to the office of the Seabrook tax collector, 712 Lafayette Road is not owned by Bloomin ‘Brands, Inc., but by B33 Seabrook Commons 2, LLC, the owner of Seabrook Commons Shopping Center, headquartered in Las Vegas.
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New Hampshire
Possible 2028 Democratic White House contenders weigh in on Iran with New Hampshire voters
As the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran overtakes the foreign policy debate in Washington, two Democratic governors with potential 2028 presidential aspirations — Gavin Newsom and Andy Beshear — recently traveled to New Hampshire, introducing themselves to the state’s famously engaged voters. The two weighed in on the war and both criticized and questioned President Trump’s strategy and endgame.
“If a president is going to take a country into war, and risk the lives of American troops and Americans in the region, he has to have a real justification and not one that seems to change every five to 10 hours,” Beshear told CBS News after a Democratic fundraiser in Keene.
“This President seems to use force before ever trying diplomacy, and he has a duty to sell it to the American people and to address Congress with it,” Beshear continued. “He hasn’t done any of that. In fact, it appears there isn’t even a plan for what success looks like. He’s gone from regime change to strategic objectives and now is talking about unconditional surrender, which isn’t realistic where he is.”
Beshear also said he thought that Congress should have reined in Mr. Trump’s war powers.
“He is trying to ignore Congress. He’s trying to even ignore the American people,” Beshear said.
He went on to note that the president’s State of the Union address took place “three — four days before he launched this attack,” and Mr. Trump “didn’t even have the respect to tell the American people the threat that he thought Iran posed to us.”
Last week, both the House and the Senate failed to pass resolutions to limit Mr. Trump’s war powers and stop him from taking further military action against Iran without congressional support.
For Newsom, the war with Iran constitutes part of a broader criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
At an event last Tuesday in Los Angeles, Newsom had compared Israel to an “apartheid state.” Later, in New Hampshire, he sought to clarify his comment.
“I was specifically referring to a Tom Friedman [New York Times] column last week, where Tom used that word of apartheid as it relates to the direction Bibi is going, particularly on the annexation of the West Bank,” Newsom explained during a book tour event Thursday night in Portsmouth. “I’m very angry, with what he is doing and why he’s doing it, what he’s going to ultimately try to do to the Supreme Court there, what he’s trying to do to save his own political career.”
Friedman wrote that at the same time that the U.S. and Israel are prosecuting a war in Iran, within Israel, Netanyahu’s government has undertaken efforts to annex the West Bank, driving Palestinians from their homes; fire the attorney general who is leading the prosecution against Netanyahu for corruption; and block the government’s attempt to establish a commission to examine the failures that led up to the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of Jews by Hamas.
CBS News has reached out to the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment.
On Iran, Newsom said, “I’m very angry about this war, with all due respect, you know, not because I’m angry the supreme leader is dead. Quite the contrary. I’m not naive about the last 37 years of his reign. Forty-seven years since ’79 — the revolution,” Newsom said. “But I’m also mindful that you have a president who still is inarticulate and incapable of giving us the rationale of why? Why now? What’s the endgame?”
Many attendees at Newsom’s book event said that the situation in Iran is a top-of-mind issue for them, too. Some said they’re “horrified” by what is happening.
29-year-old Alicia Marr told CBS News she decided to attend Newsom’s event because of his social media response to the war with Iran.
“There was one spot left, and I decided to pick it up, and it was due to his response to the war, that it is just unacceptable, and I would agree with that,” Marr said.
While some voters like Marr are eager to hear about where potential candidates stand on foreign policy, many at Newsom’s event said they care most about how potential candidates plan to address domestic issues.
“I’m more focused on getting the middle class back on track and fighting the oligarchy, and I’m less invested in international issues,” said Anita Alden, who also attended Newsom’s event,
“I wouldn’t call myself America first, but we have so many problems at home that are my priority,” she told CBS News.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who may also be weighing another White House bid, told Fox 2 Detroit last week that she “unequivocally opposes” the Trump administration’s military action in Iran and urged Congress to take action.
“If we want to stop Donald Trump with this random decision that he has arrived at, then Congress must act, and Congress must act immediately. The American people do not want our sons and daughters to go into this unauthorized war of choice,” Harris said.
Mr. Trump has lashed out against Democrats who have pushed back on his Iran strategy, calling them “losers” last week and arguing that they would criticize any decision he made on Iran.
“If I did it, it’s no good. If I didn’t do it, they would have said the opposite, that you should have done this,” the president said.
Local News
Police say the Attleboro man was driving 104 mph in a 55 mph zone on Route 202 near in Rindge, New Hampshire.
A Massachusetts man was arrested late Wednesday night after police say he was driving more than 100 mph on a New Hampshire roadway.
Officers with the Rindge Police Department stopped a vehicle shortly after 11 p.m. on Route 202 near Sears Drive in Rindge following a report of a car traveling at excessive speed, according to a statement from Chief Rachel Malynowski.
The vehicle, a 2020 Kia Stinger, was spotted traveling at 104 mph in a posted 55 mph zone, Malynowski said.
The driver, a 21-year-old man from Attleboro, was arrested and charged with reckless operation of a motor vehicle, according to police.
He is scheduled to be arraigned April 5. If convicted, the man faces a fine of at least $750, in addition to the court’s penalty assessment, and a 90-day license suspension, Malynowski said.
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