Conway’s Red Top, a nearly 70-year-old Colorado Springs institution known for its giant, “one’s a meal”  hamburgers, shut down two of its three remaining restaurants during the weekend and apparently is planning to close its last location later this week.

Conway’s closed locations at 1228 E. Fillmore St. and 3589 N. Carefree Circle on Saturday; the chain’s location at 390 N. Circle Drive apparently will close soon.

The company announced Friday on its Facebook page that the following day would be the final one for the Fillmore and Carefree locations. The post also said, “You still have one week to get one of the best burgers ever at our Circle Drive location. Thank you to all of our loyal customers. Stop by to purchase a menu for $5.00 and keep a piece of Colorado Springs History.”

Daniel L. Conway, co-owner of the chain, said he didn’t have time Monday to speak with a reporter and did not return calls. The company’s offices on Arrawanna Street were locked Monday and filled with moving boxes.

Employees and family members painted messages on windows and doors of the Fillmore Street location, such as “Conway’s will be missed — Employees of Conway’s Red Top” and “I (heart) CRT — Sierrastorm, 3 yrs. of service” as well as “Conway Family thanks you” and “Conway’s will be missed. Colorado Springs tradition since 1944.”

At its height, the family run chain, co-founded in 1944 by the late Norbert Conway, had five locations in the Springs area and one in Pueblo. It was at Conway’s that then-presidential candidate John McCain chose to have lunch during a campaign stop in the Springs in 2008.

But Conway’s had encountered increasing competition in recent years, with Smashburger, Larkburger, Five Guys Burgers and Fries and others entering the Springs market. On top of that, the business faced a still-struggling economy.

“It’s harder and harder every single day,” a Conway’s executive said in a 2009 Gazette article on the local burger wars.

On The Gazette’s Facebook page, readers mourned Conway’s apparent passing.

“Nooooooooo!” Leah Walton wailed. “I love that place, they have the best burgers! I’ve been going there since I was a kid!”

“This is so sad!” Candy Manchester Witt wrote. “It makes me feel like I did when Chinook closed. A little piece of our history is gone.”—Contact Wayne Heilman: 636-0234 Twitter @wayneheilmanFacebook Wayne Heilman