Finley’s Grill & Smokehouse to close Lansing location

COVID-19 claimed a business victim: Finley’s Grill & Smokehouse, 7433 W. Saginaw Highway, is closing for good, the Michigan chain has told customers.

An email to customers cited “slowing restaurant sales” and “the devastating hit to our business due to COVID-19.”

However, it will apparently keep catering commitments. It told one local customer that it would still cater the customer’s wedding through its Battle Creek location. Its website also lists locations in Jackson and Kalamazoo.

This is the second of two Finley’s locations in Lansing to close its doors for good. The other one, on Cedar Street in south Lansing, was shut in 2018.

 Finley’s released the following statement Wednesday:

"First of all, the Lansing Finley’s has been shifting from a dine-in restaurant to a catering restaurant for the last 5 years. It is to the point where the majority of our sales are generated through catering; consequently as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have decided to focus just on the catering business going forward and we will cease operations at the restaurant located at 7433 West Saginaw Highway.

It is with deep regret that we have to take these steps; however, it is the way our business is evolving. We have catering agreements with several venues throughout southern Michigan, of which we have ____ in the greater Lansing area. They stand ready to assist us in catering your event. We will not miss a beat and all events will come off as scheduled. If you wish to confirm an existing reservation or talk to us about a new catering, please call Ben Graham, Director of Sales & Catering at (616) 240-3693 or Brian Gottschalk, Assistant Director of Sales & Catering at (616) 328-7083."

This story was updated Thursday, May 28 at 2:34 p.m.