Chipotle Closing In February To Make Way For Company-Wide Meeting

Chipotle Mexican Grill confirmed to multiple news outlets this week that it would be closing all of its stores next month in conjunction with a company-wide meeting to discuss company practices regarding food safety. There were reports that the company was planning to organize marketing campaigns next month to win back the hearts of its clients.

The Chipotle executives said that they are now waiting for the federal health officials to announce an end of the E. coli infection outbreaks related to Chipotle.

Chipotle took out a full-size print ad in several major nationwide newspapers to apologize for the outbreak, but customer concerns caused the company’s stock to tumble in recent weeks.

This video includes images from Getty Images.

Last year, hundreds of customers reported becoming sick after dining at Chipotle.

Burrito lovers were greeted with alarming headlines on Thursday, when the Wall Street Journal’s report that the chain would be shuttering its stores on February 8 filtered out to the fast casual faithful.

Chris Arnold, the company’s spokesman, said all staff will be involved in the meeting and a range of issues will be covered.

The company has projected an 8 percent drop in sales for the fourth quarter. Then, in what Chipotle says was an unrelated case, a norovirus sickened dozens at a Chipotle in Boston.

Chipotle CEO Steve Ells said earlier this week he was “hopeful” the Centers for Disease Control would soon declare the outbreaks were over. The meeting is to mark a new start for the company’s new food safety program created to prevent the problems that plagued the company past year. We know that Chipotle is as safe as it’s ever been before.

On Wednesday, executives said they’re already looking forward to 2017 and other long-term goals.

Between Oct. 19 and November 15, E. coli poisoning struck 53 people who ate at Chipotle across nine states, according to the CDC.