Mar 2, 2017 By Rick Shrum Staff Writer Rshrum@observer-Reporter.Com 1 min read

Noodles & Company has closed five of its restaurants in the Pittsburgh region, including its two South Hills locations.

The restaurants on Route 19 in Peters Township and Millers Run Road in South Fayette closed March 1, along with those in Washington, Wexford and Monroeville. Both Noodles & Company outlets in Washington County opened in the second half of 2014.

The fast-casual chain shuttered 39 locations nationwide March 1, spokeswoman Danielle Moore said in an email. That is 8 percent of its estimated 510 sites,

South Hills Village is one of four Noodles & Company locations that remain open in Southwestern Pennsylvania. The others are in downtown Pittsburgh, Oakland and Cranberry Township.

The Denver Business Journal reported Feb. 9 that the Broomfield, Colo.-based firm was dealing with year-after-year sales declines and planned to close 55 restaurants. It also said the company shuttered 16 locations in late 2015.

“We made the difficult decision to close selected underperforming restaurants, allowing us to focus exclusively on capitalizing on the many restaurants that are doing very well,” Moore said in a March 2 email. “Closing … these restaurants was a hard but necessary call to make.”