Applebee's is latest business to leave Brooklyn Center

The Shingle Creek Crossing shopping center in Brooklyn Center has lost another tenant: Applebee's Bar and Grill, which abruptly shut its doors last week.

The closure came just a week after Walmart announced it will close its supercenter in the troubled shopping complex on April 21.

"I'm very sad about this news," wrote Cathy Stiernagle on the Friends of Brooklyn Center Facebook page. " My family and I and my friends have gone to this Applebee's for many many years."

Applebee's officials did not specifically say why the company was closing its location in Brooklyn Center, which it has served since 1985. "We greatly appreciate our neighbors' patronage for the past 38 years and loved being part of this neighborhood," spokeswoman Katy Sienko said in a statement.

Applebee's first opened in Brooklyn Center in the former Brookdale Shopping Center. The chain later built a free-standing restaurant across from the former Sears at 56th and Xerxes avenues when Brookdale was razed to make way for Walmart.

A sign on Applebee's front door directed diners to the chain's other locations in Maple Grove, Fridley and New Hope. Employees have been offered positions at other locations.

Walmart has been the anchor of the rebuilt retail area, under the Shingle Creek Crossing name. The center, off Hwy. 100 and Bass Lake Road, includes more than 30 small shops, restaurants, a fitness center and a dental practice.

The Applebee's departure comes as Walmart prepares to leave and other businesses in the area have already done so. Sears closed shop in 2018, and Target shuttered its store a few blocks to the north across from the Brookdale branch of the Hennepin County Library in 2019.

Discount Tire pulled out of Shingle Creek Crossing last year, though a Burlington store opened there in November.