If you head to Wendy’s regularly to grab a Dave’s Double and a fries, you may need to find a new drive-thru soon.
The chain just announced that it’ll be closing hundreds of locations, leaving people without a place to get their Frosty fix. While there aren’t many details from Wendy’s just yet, here’s what we do know about the forthcoming closures.
Why Is Wendy’s Closing Restaurants?
Wendy’s isn’t doing so hot at the moment. In a quarterly earnings call last week, the company reported that sales are down 4.7% at its stores that have been open for at least a year.
As a result, Wendy’s identified locations that were “consistently underperforming,” according to interim CEO Ken Cook. “We have some restaurants that do not elevate the brand and are a drag from a franchisee financial performance perspective,” he said. “The goal is to address and fix those restaurants.”
The company plans to do that by updating or making improvements in some restaurants, while others fall to the chopping block. “Closures of underperforming units are expected to boost sales and profitability at nearby locations,” said Cook.
Which Locations Are Closing?
Wendy’s has not released a list of locations that will be closing. However, we have an idea of how many will close.
Currently, there are about 6,000 Wendy’s restaurants in the U.S. On the call, Cook said that a “mid single-digit percentage” of them will be closing. So when we do that math, that’s a range of about 240 to 360 restaurants. That number is backed up by one investor on the call, which estimated that 300 locations would be affected, according to USA Today.
We also don’t know exactly when these Wendy’s locations will be closing, but we do know that they will begin this year and continue through 2026. It’s a relatively long timeline.
These closures aren’t the first the chain has made in recent years. About a year ago, Wendy’s announced it was closing 140 locations before the start of 2025.
What People Are Saying
On social media, people are reacting to the news, and the overall sentiment is that no one is really surprised.
“Haven’t been there in probably 2+ years but went there a couple weeks ago and it was nothing how I remember,” said one user on Reddit. “It was just not good.”
Another agreed. “Wouldn’t be shocked if more close. It’s a decent chain, but the slogan ‘quality is our recipe’ is far from true anymore. There are major corners cut in the ingredients now.”
Someone else sees the Wendy’s closings as just part of a bigger problem — and it’s hard to disagree. “I used to eat fast food a lot. Every single one of them has gone downhill in quality significantly the last decade or so,” they said. “And they didn’t exactly have a lot of quality to begin with. All while raising prices.”
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