Big Changes Afoot for IHOP, Applebee's

Fans of IHOP and Applebee's, take note: It's possible your hometown location will be closing, though it's also possible one will opening there soon. Parent company DineEquity announced a plan to close as many as 160 of the restaurants and to open up to 125 new ones, reports USA Today. The problem is that the company hasn't decided specifics yet in regard to locations. A safe bet when all is said and done: It will be harder to find an Applebee's in the US but easier to find an IHOP.

The Los Angeles Times provides more details on that front: 105 to 135 Applebee's restaurants will close, and while that will be offset slightly by 20 to 30 openings, most of those openings will be outside the US. As for IHOP, 20 to 25 restaurants will close, but 80 to 95 will open, mostly in the US. DineEquity operates 1,968 Applebee's locations worldwide and 1,752 IHOP sites. (More IHOP stories.)