Chili's closes in Starkville and Columbus

Starkville and Columbus both lost their Chili's Bar and Grills Wednesday.

The Highway 12 location closure will put 48 employees out of work. Around 30 employees will lose their jobs from the Columbus location closing.

Manager Vincent Epps said the closing was "no good whatsoever."

"From what I gathered, it's closing because of a decrease in sales over the years," Epps said. "It wasn't something that happened last month or last week."

The Starkville manager did not comment on whether the properties had been sold.

The Starkville location opened in 2006 following initial snags in the planning and zoning process in 2005.