CHUBBUCK — The Black Bear Diner that opened here in March 2016 has closed its doors for good.

The restaurant’s franchisee, Joby Management of Arizona, announced the news Thursday morning to the restaurant’s 39 employees that Black Bear Diner on Bullock Street was ceasing operations. The restaurant’s last day of business was Wednesday.

Joby Management told the Journal Thursday morning that the restaurant was shutting down for financial reasons and the situation was so dire that there was a feeling that if the eatery did not close now that paying its employees in the future might be difficult.

By closing now, Joby Management said it will be able to pay all of the Chubbuck Black Bear Diner employees their last paychecks within a week. Joby Management also said closing right before Christmas is far less than ideal but at least all the employees will be paid in full.

Joby said it has also notified the state Department of Labor about the closing in order to speed up the unemployment benefit payments to Black Bear’s employees.

Joby Management also said it wasn’t sure whether the abundance of restaurants in the Pine Ridge Mall area where Black Bear Diner was located factored into the eatery’s financial woes. Black Bear and several other eateries opened in the area surrounding the mall during the past couple years and Black Bear is the first of those restaurants to go out of business.

Joby Management also owns the adjacent Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers eatery on Bullock Street, and that location as well as the Idaho Falls Black Bear Diner, which has a different franchisee, will remain open.

Black Bear Diner is based out of California but many of its restaurants are owned by franchisees such as Joby Management.

Joby owns several other restaurants throughout the western United States. Joby also did not say what it plans to do with the Black Bear Diner building on Bullock Street.