KFC Eleven store in the Highlands closes permanently

The KFC Eleven store on Bardstown Road and Baxter Avenue abruptly shut its doors on Friday, according to a report from WHAS11.com.

YUM! Brands opened it's only "fast casual" concept store, which offered a lighter menu of flatbreads, salads and rice bowls, in August 2013.

KFC told WHAS 11 News that it is permanently closing the building and will put it up for sale. The restaurant has been a fixture on Bardstown Road near Jack Fry's Restaurant and Walgreen's.

The company is offering the KFC Eleven employees a chance to transfer to other restaurants.

Spokesman Rodrigo Coronel told WHAS 11 News, "I can confirm that KFC U.S. has made the decision to close our KFC eleven, an in-market test kitchen restaurant on Bardstown Road in Louisville."

In 2013 KFC's senior director of concept development Anne Fuller said the store hoped to pull people looking for a slower paced dining experience with free WiFi.

Coronel also told WHAS 11, "The restaurant allowed us to garner great insights around positioning, menu innovation, kitchen and asset design, and our service model. We…will…start applying the various insights to KFCs around the country."