According to the Beaverton Valley Times, the four-year-old Hooters location on Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy closed its doors last Sunday with very little notice. The employees were told of the development on the day of the closure during a "team meeting." They have been given the option to move to positions at the Jantzen Beach Hooters location.

From the BVT:

Art Tinajero, vice president for marketing for franchise company HootWinc LLC in Oceanside, Calif., said the decision to close the restaurant was made "over time and analysis of the market we serve."

I'm curious about that market. The only Hooters I've eaten in was in Boise, Idaho, where I suffered acute cognitive dissonance while watching entire families, with young children, dine in the presence of buxom, lap-sitting waitresses and cat-calling men. Apparently the family/creepy guy market just couldn't support more than one Hooters in the region.

I do feel for the 40+ employees who worked at the Beaverton location. Imagine having to drive from Beaverton to Jantzen Beach in order to keep your paycheck and benefits. Does that even make sense with gas prices the way they are?

What about the Beaverton Hooters servers who decide the commute isn't worth it? On one hand you're no longer required to feign interest in your customers or don that deplorable short-short/pantyhose/scrunchy sock/tennis shoe combo. On the other hand, not having work in this economy is disasterous.

In terms of the employees, here's hoping the commute is as painless as possible, or that the unemployment is brief. But as far as Hooters is concerned: Good riddance.