A Sonic Drive-In that has served Overland Park drivers since at least 1993 is shutting its doors Wednesday, according to an area manager, marking the third Sonic closure in Johnson County in just over a year. The location at 10075 W. 75th St. joins a growing list of shuttered drive-ins that once made curbside burgers and slushes a fixture of the area.
The Overland Park closure was reported by The Kansas City Star, which noted the restaurant had operated at that address for more than three decades. Sonic is owned by Atlanta-based Inspire Brands, which has held the chain since 2018 and also owns Arby's, Dunkin' and Buffalo Wild Wings, per the same report. The Star reached out to Sonic's corporate office for comment but had not received a response before publication.
A Pattern Emerging Across Johnson County
This isn't an isolated case. Sonic also closed a location at 15745 W. 87th St. in Lenexa, and shut down its Quivira Road restaurant at 9801 Quivira Road in Overland Park back in 2025, the Star's report notes. Together with the 75th Street closure, that brings the county's tally to three shuttered Sonics in just over a year.
Despite the recent losses, Sonic still maintains more than a dozen locations across the Kansas City metro, including nearby spots at 10701 Roe Ave. and 8905 Santa Fe Drive in Overland Park, plus a location at 5440 Merriam Drive in Merriam. The chain does not release financial statements, so it's unclear whether the closures reflect a broader business trend or are isolated decisions tied to individual properties.
Commercial Space Now Listed for Lease
Commercial listings show the 75th Street property already up for grabs. According to CommercialSearch, there is currently one retail space available for lease at the address, described as 1,075 square feet of retail space.
Part of a Wider National Trend
The Overland Park closure fits into a pattern researchers have been tracking nationally. Store Closure Watch had logged six Sonic Drive-In closure-related events across the United States as of Sept. 26, including six recorded store closures, and identified Kansas as one of the states with the most tracked closures, alongside Florida and Wisconsin, according to Store Closure Watch. The tracker also noted that Sonic listed roughly 3,350 store pages on its own website as of that same month, offering a snapshot of the chain's overall footprint even as individual locations wink out.
For now, Wednesday's closing leaves another gap along 75th Street in Overland Park, one more entry in a string of Sonic shutdowns that has touched Lenexa, Overland Park and now this longtime neighborhood stop. Whether more closures follow in Johnson County remains to be seen.
