Four restaurant locations — two in Lenawee County, one in Jackson County and one in Washtenaw County — abruptly closed their doors leaving customers confused, frustrated and holding on to thousands of dollars in unused gift cards.

The chain of restaurants as part of JR’s Hometown Grill and Pub are now permanently closed, according to signage posted at each of the restaurant locations in Adrian, Brooklyn, Milan and Tecumseh, and according to owner Robert Loudermilk, who spoke Thursday with The Daily Telegram about the sudden closure of the locations.

Because he was unable to secure long-term financing at the beginning of December, Loudermilk said he continued to bear the weight and burden of increasing debt from the restaurants. That debt, he said, has been growing over the last year-and-a-half — 18 months.
In a notice taped to doors and windows at the restaurants and was shared on social media. Loudermilk said the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic closure along with rebuilding staffing, increasing costs of operations and decreased sales all attributed to the closure of the restaurants. He went on to say in the notice that “I have no option but to close the restaurants.”

“For the last year-and-a-half, I have solely taken upon myself, the financial burden of the business,” he said in his notice. “Due to the inability to secure long-term capital has forced this decision upon me.”
The Brooklyn, Milan and Tecumseh locations closed for good Jan. 23. The Adrian site at 1368 Division St., next to Meijer, was listed as remaining open until Sunday, Jan. 28, however, a sign on the front door of the Adrian restaurant — as of Thursday — says it too is permanently closed.
“It annihilated my family and me,” Loudermilk said of the increasing debt, adding he is “devastated” having to come to the decision to close the restaurants. “I want people to understand I’ve tried to honor everything over these couple of days.”

Tecumseh’s JR’s location is in the downtown at 111 W. Chicago Blvd.