Wendy’s to close 140 ‘poor-performing’ restaurants by end of year

Wendy’s is closing astir 140 underperforming restaurants by the extremity of the year, the accelerated nutrient elephantine announced Friday.

The Dublin, Ohio-headquartered edifice concatenation didn’t connection a database of cities oregon states wherever the closures volition instrumentality place, but Kirk Tanner, the company’s president and CEO, said they volition beryllium dispersed retired crossed the country, alternatively than concentrated successful a azygous region.

Wendy’s has 7,292 stores astir the world, and much than 80% of them — oregon 6,011 locations — are successful the U.S., according to information released by the institution connected Thursday.

The restaurants that volition soon person to unopen down “are rather out-of-date” and “don’t physique our brands,” Tanner said Thursday successful a league telephone with investors.

“Our focus is connected gathering caller restaurants because we cognize they present good implicit the mean of these poor-performing restaurants,” helium said, according to a transcript of the telephone by The Motley Fool. “We, overall, privation the champion restaurants for the customers and that lawsuit acquisition we privation to deliver.”

The upcoming closures, which articulation the 100 restaurants the institution said it would adjacent earlier this year, volition beryllium offset by caller restaurants, which volition unfastened “in amended locations with importantly improved income and profitability.”

“We built 500 caller restaurants implicit the past 2 years,” Tanner said. “We’ll physique astir 250 to 300 restaurants this year.”

Wendy’s is the latest high-profile edifice concatenation to set to what appears to beryllium a caller scenery successful the work manufacture successful the US, arsenic rising paper prices proceed to crook disconnected customers.

In May, seafood edifice concatenation Red Lobster Early filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection aft closing dozens of its locations. And aboriginal past week, the diner-style edifice concatenation Denny’s announced it would shut down 50 of its underperforming restaurants  by the extremity of 2025.

TGI Friday has closed astir 100 restaurants crossed the state truthful acold this twelvemonth — respective of them successful New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.