Buffalo Wild Wings is permanently closing its Shoppes at Cross Keys location at 627 Cross Keys Road in Sicklerville this week, ending a 15-year run at the busy Berlin-Cross Keys Road retail corridor. Employees learned of the shutdown last week, and the space has already been listed on the commercial real estate market for lease.
Local outlet 42 Freeway was first to report the closure, noting that staff were notified last week and that space at the 23-acre shopping center has been listed for lease. According to WPG Talk Radio 95.5 FM, Buffalo Wild Wings confirmed the closure in a company statement and pointed customers toward its nearby location at 1598 Nixon Drive in Moorestown. The chain also has other South Jersey outposts in Mays Landing, Millville, Barnegat, and Voorhees, per the same station's report, and employees are reportedly being offered jobs at other South Jersey locations.
A Shopping Center Built Around Changing Tenants
The Shoppes at Cross Keys opened in August 2009 as a 176,000-square-foot lifestyle center at Berlin-Cross Keys Road and the Atlantic City Expressway, and the property was refinanced in July 2019 through a $22.3 million loan secured by NYC-based owner The Jemstone Group, according to Progress Capital. The center has already seen turnover among its original anchors: breakfast and brunch chain First Watch took over the long-vacant former Bertucci's space inside the plaza, adding a full bar, a 40-seat bar area, and outdoor patio seating, as reported by SoJO 104.9 FM.
Just down the corridor, regional restaurateur Vaneet Chopra opened Banjara Indian Bistro this month at 687–689 Berlin-Cross Keys Road, according to South Jersey Food Scene. Chopra has run Cross Culture in Haddonfield for more than 17 years, the outlet notes. The corridor has undergone a broader fast-casual influx since 2024, adding locations for Dave's Hot Chicken, Asad's Hot Chicken, Mission BBQ, and Johnny Longhots Steaks & Pizza, according to 42 Freeway.
Off-Premise Dining Reshapes The Corridor
Just a short drive away, the Chick-fil-A at 481 Berlin-Cross Keys Road closed for a multi-month renovation earlier in 2026 that expanded kitchen space by 540 square feet and added dual drive-thru lanes while cutting indoor seating from 130 to 80, Hoodline previously reported. Gloucester Township approved that expansion in 2025. The shift mirrors a national move among chains toward smaller footprints built for drive-thru and delivery rather than dine-in service.
Buffalo Wild Wings parent Inspire Brands has leaned into that same trend with its compact BWW GO format, which runs 900 to 1,800 square feet and includes heated pickup lockers, according to Restaurant Dive. The concept has expanded to more than 200 locations nationwide, including a South Jersey outpost on White Horse Road in Voorhees. Founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1982, Buffalo Wild Wings has grown into the largest U.S. sports bar chain by systemwide sales and has ranked No. 1 in Nation's Restaurant News' annual Top 500 report, per WPG Talk Radio 95.5 FM. The chain now counts roughly 1,400 locations nationwide and serves bone-in and boneless wings with a dozen sauces and rubs, alongside burgers and appetizers.
Corporate Pressures Behind The Closures
Inspire Brands, Buffalo Wild Wings' parent company, also owns Arby's, Dunkin', SONIC, Baskin-Robbins, and Jimmy John's. The company separately announced that it had confidentially submitted a draft Form S-1 registration statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering, according to L'Express Franchise.
The available reporting does not establish that the Sicklerville closure reflects a national contraction of traditional sit-down footprints. Meanwhile, Sicklerville's residential growth continues along the Route 42 and Atlantic City Expressway commuter corridors, with average home prices ranging between $325,000 and $375,000 as of mid-2025, according to The Kersey Group. Whether Inspire Brands eventually brings a smaller BWW GO format to Gloucester or Winslow Township, or what The Jemstone Group plans for the vacant 627 Cross Keys Road endcap, remains to be seen.
Other 2026 closures had different local circumstances
Comparable Buffalo Wild Wings closures have not followed one clearly documented pattern. According to Inc., the chain's downtown location on South State Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan, closed May 3, 2026, after more than 20 years, while a Hicksville, New York, restaurant closed in late January as part of a mall redevelopment project expected to exceed $100 million. Those circumstances differ from Sicklerville's reported employee notification and lease marketing; the available reporting does not identify a shared ownership explanation or a connection between those closures and the local decision.
Inspire Brands separately said it had confidentially submitted a draft Form S-1 registration statement to the SEC for a proposed initial public offering, according to the company's announcement. That corporate development does not, by itself, explain the Sicklerville closure or establish that the restaurant was closed as part of a broader companywide action.
