Federal Donuts & Chicken is closing its Marlton location for good on Saturday, with a sign posted at the Route 73 shop announcing that Halloween, October 31st, will be its last day. The closure comes just a year and a half after the donut-and-fried-chicken chain opened its first New Jersey location at Marlton Square, and it arrives alongside Randy's Donuts' confirmed plan to open its first New Jersey location in Marlton in late 2026.
According to 42 Freeway, the Marlton Federal Donuts opened in April 2025 inside Marlton Square, occupying a prominent space at the front of the shopping center along Route 73. The sign taped up at the shop reads, “Looking forward to seeing you in the future…” though it offers no explanation for the closure. As of now, a replacement tenant for the space has not been confirmed, the outlet reports.
Federal Donuts got its start in Philadelphia in 2011, bringing together donuts, fried chicken and coffee under one roof. The founding group included five friends from the Philadelphia restaurant industry, among them chef Michael Solomonov and restaurateur Steve Cook, per the same account. Radnor-based NewSpring Capital acquired a controlling interest in the company in 2022, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer, a period during which Federal operated 11 locations and arena concessions, with executives once envisioning a franchise system that could eventually reach 150 stores.
A Broader Slowdown in Fast-Casual Dining
The Marlton closure lands amid wider trouble for the fast-casual sector. The Inquirer reports that Federal Donuts co-owners cited weakened demand for fast-casual dining, particularly at weekday lunch, as a reason for closing three Philadelphia locations. Placer.ai data cited by the same newspaper found that overall restaurant visits had declined even as trips to grocery stores, convenience stores, and wholesale clubs increased from a year earlier.
Placer.ai analyst R.J. Hottovy told the Inquirer that “middle-income consumers are increasingly substituting restaurant visits with meals at home,” a trend that helps explain the pressure on chains built around quick weekday meals. Whether that broader pattern factored into the decision to shutter the Marlton shop specifically has not been stated.
Randy's Donuts Lists Marlton as Coming Soon
Separately, Randy's Donuts does list Marlton as “coming soon” on its website, though the chain has not confirmed any connection to the Federal Donuts space, and no exact address or opening date has been provided. South Jersey Food Scene reports that Randy's is planning to open its first New Jersey location in Marlton in late 2026, but notes that an exact opening date and additional details have not yet been announced.
Randy's Donuts traces its beginnings to 1952 in Southern California, with its original shop still standing at 805 W. Manchester Boulevard in Inglewood. The chain now has about three dozen U.S. locations, including two on the East Coast in New York and one in Georgia; a Marlton shop would mark its first in the Philadelphia metro area, the site notes. South Jersey Food Scene also points out that Duck Donuts already operates nearby at Marlton Crossing on Route 73; Federal Donuts & Chicken opened its own first New Jersey location at Marlton Square.
Randy's is known for its extensive selection of classic and specialty donuts, including glazed raised varieties, twists, bars, old-fashioneds and cake donuts, according to the same report. For now, the overlap between Federal Donuts' exit and Randy's Marlton listing remains just that — an overlap, without any confirmed link tying the two announcements together.
