Denver-based Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. will close all of itsU.S. stores for part of the day Feb. 8 while its employees attend anational team meeting, a company spokesman told the Los Angeles Times today.

The meeting will discuss food-safety changes, allow employees toask questions and thank them for their "hard work during thisdifficult time," Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold said in an emailto the newspaper.

Stores will open at 3 p.m. local time that day, he said. As ofSeptember, Chipotle has 1,906 restaurants worldwide, 1,895 of whichare in the U.S.

The fast-food burrito chain has struggled to attract customersafter E. coli outbreaks were linked to the company's restaurants.Chipotle's December sales were down 30%, according to a recentfiling with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the L.A. Timessaid.

In November, Chipotle temporarily closed 43 restaurants in Washington and Oregon after 22 E. coli caseswere linked to its eateries. Those locations have sincereopened.

A month later, 141 Boston College students were reported tohave contracted norovirus after eating at a Chipotle in Brighton,Mass. The chain specifically mentioned this incident in an SECfiling last week, saying that it "worsened the adverse financialand operating impacts" from the E. coli outbreaks.

Chipotle also said it was served with a federal grand jury subpoena in early Decemberin connection with a criminal investigation being conducted by theU.S. attorney's office for the Central District of California inconjunction with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Office ofCriminal Investigations.

The company said it was asked to produce a "broad range ofdocuments" related to a norovirus outbreak in August at a SimiValley Chipotle restaurant. Chipotle has said it will fullycooperate in the investigation.

Related: From supermarket to table: Tips to minimize foodpoisoning risks

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