About 400 to lose jobs as Whataburger closes 14 stores in Central Florida

After a four-year turnaround effort that produced no profit, Whataburger is pulling out of Central Florida.

About 400 people who work in 14 stores in the Tampa Bay, Orlando, Ocala and Gainesville areas will lose their jobs when the stores lock their doors for good at 3 p.m. on May 31.

"It's sad," said Pam Cox, spokeswoman for the privately held chain of what will emerge as a 694-store chain with 37 stores in northern Florida. "We have been trying to help employees through this difficult time and find transfer opportunities for managers."

While fast food chains and Whataburger as a company have posted positive sales gains during the recession, Central Florida has always been a battleground in the never-ending burger wars. In addition to a full complement of the fast food giants, smaller burger specialists like Sonic and most recently Five Guys Burgers and Fries have aggressively elbowed their way in.

The chain employs 130 in five restaurants in the Tampa Bay market.

Founded in 1950 as roadside stand selling 25 cent burgers (from the fully loaded namesake down to the simple Justaburger) in Corpus Christi, Tex., Whataburger's familiar orange and white wood A-frame restaurants fell out of favor with many zoning boards by the 1990s. Only a dozen survive. Still owned by the family of founder Harmon Dobson, Whataburger Restaurants LP moves its headquarters to San Antonio next month.

While the chain has been in Pensacola 40 years, its tenure in Central Florida lasted about a decade. The parent company acquired the 14 stores being closed from a failed franchisee in 2005.

Mark Albright can be reached at albright@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8252.