WACO, Texas — This week, the Applebee's on Valley Mills Drive in Waco, Texas closed its doors and employees say they were given little notice.
"Disappointed. I'm not I'm not upset disappointed in how they think that this is okay," said Andrew Hutchison, former Applebee's employee. "It is not."
Hutchison says that between 20 to 35 former Applebee's employee lost their jobs. "You wouldn't even want to give us 24 hours, but you could at least gave us more time." He adds that he is not trying to bash his former employer. However, he says it is heartbreaking how to knowhow his job of more than 6 months let him and other employees go.
"There was a couple of people that that's all they've done for the last five, maybe six years, maybe even 10 years of their life there. Yeah, there were some two employees there there was there for 10 years, 10 years. How does someone stay somewhere for 10 years? You just say, Okay, no more job for you. Yeah, that's crazy," Hutchison said.
However, he does admit he could this the closing coming but he did not think it would be as abrupt.
"The signs were there, obviously," said Hutchison "I mean, we have days where it's slow, but then we have days where we were relatively busy."
According to Applebee’s website, it no longer lists the Waco location and if you search for the restuarant on Google, you'll also see it is closed.
This now has Hutchison looking for a new job and hopes to be employed soon. "I'm not the type of person to sit around without a job. I will still be employed. If Applebee's was still was open. I'll probably be at work right now."
To help keep some of those Applebee’s employee's working, nearby competitor Bubba's 33 is offering interviews.
"We're here as a partner and possible employer," said Marc Shaw who is part of Bubba's 33's marketing team. He also says that some former Waco Applebee’s employees are already taking advantage of this.
"We've had several applicants online, as well as in person that have just came in the door and said, Hey, I saw your post, and I want to work here. "
Now these employee's disappointment is turning into hope.
"I've already been on three interviews, and it's looking pretty promising already," Hutchison said.
6 News did reach out to Applebee’s corporate office for a statement. However, did not hear back.