April 19, 2021

The city’s first Buffalo Wild Wings doesn’t plan to reopen following a COVID-19-driven closure.

Signs have been removed from the location at 909 N. West Ave., and it’s available for a different user, franchisee Todd LaHaise said.

“We had a good run,” he said. “As things started opening up, our other two stores have done extremely well throughout the whole last year. It’s difficult to say how much they benefited from closing that store.”

The restaurant group kept a lot of employees from that location initially, and “then they dwindled out, and with the current market, trying to open the store was just too risky to do at this time,” he said.

The location near the Sioux Falls Arena and Convention Center opened in 1998. LaHaise took it over in 2007 and said sales doubled from then to 2010. Before the Louise Avenue restaurant opened, the Arena location was among the best-performing Buffalo Wild Wings in the country, he added.

But “even before COVID, some of the events in the arena had decreased from the prior heyday when it first opened up,” he said of the also nearby Denny Sanford Premier Center, which opened in 2014.

“So it was a combination of a lot of things, but COVID was the deciding factor on what to do.”

He owns the building, so he doesn’t totally rule out returning but is open to selling it or converting it to a different leased use, he said.

“We’ve been patiently waiting to see what’s going to happen with the expansion of the arena and convention center and baseball field and return of activity, so it’s a possibility. The door is open we could come back and reopen.”

When an event like bull riding draws thousands to the area “and you’re a block away, it does make you sick to your stomach a little bit, so it wasn’t an easy decision,” LaHaise said. “Even today, I’m not happy about it. But we are doing extremely well at the other two stores, and I couldn’t be happier.”

Recent years also brought other changes for Buffalo Wild Wings, including new ownership from the co-owners of Arby’s Restaurant Group.

LaHaise said he has been happy with the menu development the new ownership has brought, which included some new additions.

“Most of the menu has been revamped,” he said.

That includes additions such as cauliflower wings, new salads and brisket tacos, plus a new burger recipe.

“The quality of the beef is unbelievable,” he said, adding that during the pandemic many customers explored the menu.

“People got to try our items they haven’t tried,” he said.

LaHaise also plans to remodel the Louise Avenue location to create a more defined area for carryout and delivery business. A time frame for construction hasn’t been set yet.