Wendy’s plans to close 140 restaurants in the United States before the end of this year, in addition to the 100 it announced in May.
But in a conference call with investors Thursday, the company said those closures would be offset by opening new restaurants. Wendy’s has announced plans to open between 250 and 300 restaurants this year.
Wendy’s President and CEO Kirk Tanner said restaurants that close are underperforming compared to others.
“They’re just in places that don’t build our brands,” Tanner said. “You look at a brand that’s 55 years old and some of these restaurants are pretty dated.”
Wendy’s, based in Dublin, Ohio, did not provide a list of locations to close. But Tanner said they are spread across the country.
“We are focused on building new restaurants because we know they deliver much better results than the average of these underperforming restaurants,” he said. “Overall, we want the best restaurants for customers and that customer experience that we want to provide.”
Wendy’s had 7,292 restaurants at the end of the third quarter. More than 80% of them are in the United States
Shares of Wendy’s were up 3.5% as of midday Friday.
U.S. restaurant sales saw slow growth this year as many consumers opposed rising menu prices. Wendy’s same-store sales — or sales at stores open at least a year — rose less than 1% in the U.S. in the first half of this year.
Earlier in October, Denny’s announced it would close 150 locations by the end of 2025. And Red Lobster filed for bankruptcy protection in May after closing dozens of stores.
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