YouTube sensation Spanian has pulled the plug on his kebab shop just eight months after it opened to great fanfare – and only a week after the Daily Mail revealed the once-hyped venue was struggling to attract customers.

Spanian, whose real name is Anthony Lees, opened the King Street, Newtown restaurant in January, betting his huge online following could translate into success on one of Sydney’s most notoriously unforgiving hospitality strips.

But the gamble appears to have spectacularly unraveled, with the venue now listed as temporarily closed.

The Newtown outlet has reportedly been shut for about a week, according to comments on Spanian’s social media pages.

The closure raises fresh questions about the rapidly expanded kebab chain, despite a flurry of social media posts promoting the brand since this masthead first revealed the store’s struggles.

It is a dramatic reversal from January, when crowds packed the Newtown store on opening day. Within months, however, the hype had faded, with the venue struggling to attract foot traffic during busy lunch periods and even the Friday night rush, while neighbouring restaurants continued to draw diners.

However, any financial pain at individual outlets may not fall directly on Spanian.

The stores operate under a franchise model, with franchisees reportedly paying between $250,000 and $350,000 plus GST for the right to trade under the Spanian’s Kebabs name.

They are then responsible for expenses including rent and ongoing staffing costs.

There are six Spanian’s Kebabs franchises, meaning franchise fees alone could potentially have generated more than $1.5 million for the Spanian empire.

Spanian’s Kebabs, which began as a food truck operation in Haberfield, still lists Gosford, Kogarah, Newtown and Macarthur Square as NSW locations, although several food truck sites previously associated with the business are no longer listed.

Retail expert Barry Urquhart said the remarkably short lifespan of the Newtown outlet pointed to deeper problems with the business model.

Spanian’s (pictured) opening initially appeared to be a success, with crowds packing the store on its first day

The apparent closure comes despite a desperate flurry of posts by Spanian (pictured) promoting the kebab brand since Daily Mail Australia revealed the Newtown outlet’s struggles

Spanian’s Kebabs has been heavily criticised online for the lack of food quality

One customer said his kebab looked nothing like the ones promoted on social media

Just over a week ago on a Friday night, pictures showed Spanian’s Kebabs’ Newtown store sitting empty, with no customers inside

‘Eight months to failure is a very short term, and that suggests there were fundamental flaws in the strategic structure, if there was a strategic structure in the business at all,’ he told the Daily Mail.

‘Recommendations, referrals and endorsements just simply aren’t cutting the mustard at the moment,’ he told the Daily Mail.

‘The presence and influence of influencers has fallen away appreciably.’

Mr Urquhart said Spanian’s popularity may have initially attracted curious customers, but celebrity alone was rarely enough to sustain a hospitality business.

‘There is always a fine line between arrogance and ignorance, and a lot of arrogant people are unknowingly ignorant of the realities of the market forces,’ he said.

‘Most entrepreneurs are terrible at administration. It’s got very little probability of success and sustained growth.’

While Spanian’s public profile resonated with some Australians as a lovable rogue figure in the mould of Ned Kelly or Crocodile Dundee, Mr Urquhart said the novelty appeared to have faded quickly.

‘He did have a profile that was kind of part of the Australian irreverence,’ he said.

Spanian has not responded to Daily Mail about the reason behind the closure of he store

Prior to closing Spanian was offering a $10 kebab in a desperate bid to get customers through the door – but it was not working

Mr Urquhart said the key to surviving beyond the initial burst of curiosity was converting first-time visitors into loyal customers who returned again and again.

‘A very fundamental tenet of successful business is: what is the lifetime value of the customer? It’s not the one purchase. It’s how often they come back,’ he said.

‘The most effective, cost-efficient way to get business is repeat business.

‘Have loyalty and have a preferred brand.’

He argued Spanian’s Kebabs had failed to establish a distinctive position in an already crowded fast-food market.

‘He hasn’t got a brand. He hasn’t got recognition. He’s got no market positioning that says he’s famous for it,’ Mr Urquhart said.

‘There seems to be no positioning or presence in the marketplace.

‘He’s just selling kebabs now, and not very good ones.’

Retail expert Barry Urquhart (pictured) said the remarkably short lifespan of the Newtown outlet pointed to deeper problems with the business model

Mr Urquhart said Spanian’s apparent troubles came amid brutal conditions for small businesses and the hospitality sector in particular.

He cited a report he had read on Sunday that claimed about 1,000 Australian businesses were closing every day, although many were simply shutting their doors rather than formally collapsing.

‘They’re quietly closing down. They’re not going bankrupt. They’re not going into administration. It’s just this is how tough business is,’ he said.

Mr Urquhart said franchise operators were particularly exposed when they were heavily reliant on a single business or supplier.

‘When you’ve got a franchise business, they’re not freewheeling entrepreneurs. They are freewheeling capitalists with high debt who are dependent upon a single source.’

Scathing comments have continued to flood Spanian’s social media pages, with customers taking aim at everything from the food to stores allegedly failing to open during advertised hours.

‘Got refused service yesterday at Gosford, the girl said she hadn’t been paid in a month,’ one person claimed.

Spanian (pictured) was once Sydney’s poster boy for the working-class youth subculture known as eshays, recognised for their tracksuits, bum bags, street slang and tough image

Another complained about the Newtown outlet: ‘Helps if you open your shop when you say you’re open, brah. Waited 30 minutes at the Newtown branch yesterday from the scheduled opening time, with zero activity inside. Travelled all the way from Adelaide just to be very disappointed and hungry.’

Others took aim at the food, with one declaring: ‘Worse kebabs ever no wonder why they’re closing down,’ while another wrote: ‘His kebabs are a soggy, ranky mess.’

There were also unverified claims that other outlets had shut, with one commenter saying the Macarthur Square store had closed and another claiming: ‘the Warrawong store shutdown permanently.’

The Mail has contacted Spanian’s Kebabs for comment about the Newtown closure, the status of its other outlets, and the allegations raised by customers.

However on social media Spanian hit back at ‘conspiracy theories’ that franchisees had been ‘scammed’ or stores were disappearing because of poor trade, insisting the trucks were simply moving to better locations.

‘They’re trucks, they move. That’s why they’re trucks,’ he said.

Spaian said Parramatta moved to Strathfield and then Brisbane after its lease expired, while Wyong relocated to Gosford.

‘The truck that was in Wyong is the truck in Gosford. The Gosford location is better, more central. They moved there. That’s their right. That’s why it’s a food truck. They move.

‘The truck that was in Wollongong is now being built in Wollongong CBD on the main street. It’s probably our best store. They’ve been building it for two months. They’re very excited.

‘The Penrith location, the land they were on, the cafe next to it, they went bankrupt, so they lost their lease. So they’re finding a better location. Hopefully, it’s going to be in the Penrith Westfield next to the Oporto’s or Nando’s.’

He said Smeaton Grange had moved to Macarthur Square, Uber Eats orders were up, and three more stores were planned, including in Brisbane and Melbourne.

Spanian’s move into hospitality marked another chapter in a dramatic personal transformation.

The influencer-turned-entrepreneur was once Sydney’s poster boy for the working-class youth subculture known as eshays, recognised for tracksuits, bum bags, street slang and a tough image.

Now a businessman and entertainer, he has previous convictions for armed robbery, causing grievous bodily harm with intent and reckless wounding.

His most recent prison sentence was related to operating a criminal drug supply network. In total, he has spent more than 12 years behind bars.

Following his release from prison in 2017, Lees reinvented himself online, eventually launching the hugely successful YouTube series Into the Hood, in which he travels through some of Australia’s and the world’s most dangerous and crime-ridden neighbourhoods.