LACROSSE, Wis. — The two KFC fried chicken shops in LaCrosse have closed apparently victims in the increasingly competitive and turbulent fast-food industry. The locations went dark over the weekend. Signs on doors were barebones and without explanation: “This Location Is Closed.” News media queries to the franchise holder, Mitra QRS of Dallas, Texas, were not immediately answered. Mitra operates 200 KFC locations in 15 states through franchises from KFCs owner, the multi-national giant Yum Brands. Mitra also has 170 Taco Bell franchises from Yum. KFC shops nationally have a unit volume of $1.3 million, with some shops pulling down the average. Mitra recently began applying artificial data-crunching to cut expenses. Menus were trimmed to fewer items. Sit-down service was dropped at some sites. Some went entirely to drive-up.
Chicken wars
Sales volume at the lone KFC location in Winona, at 1558 West Service Drive, is not published. Any observer can see, however, that the shop has lost traffic to robust competitors. The sit-down Pizza Ranch franchise on the West End, which opened in 2024, gives almost as much billing to its fried chicken as to its signature pizza. Also: The Kwik Trip convenience store chain has bolstered its fried chicken product recently with heavy promotion of a “No Ordinary Chicken” campaign. Kwik Trip also created a new mascot: A human-sized chicken named Red, who not only roams the aisles but suddenly is a television star.