Bringing dwelling the Baconator shouldn’t be as straightforward because it was once, and it’s about to get even tougher in cities across the nation.
Quick meals big Wendy’s is continuous its push to shut a whole bunch of areas because it seeks to stabilize income and shed underperforming eating places.
Practically six months after the burger chain first introduced the plan on an investor name, its U.S. footprint is decidedly smaller, with a number of states seeing web retailer declines within the double digits, in accordance with a evaluation of Wendy’s retailer locator device.
As of Friday, the device confirmed 5,675 areas in the US. That’s roughly 200 fewer areas than what it confirmed on the finish of September 2025, an archived seize of the device reveals.
The Wendy’s Firm, which disclosed its turnaround plan in November 2025, mentioned the closures would start within the fourth quarter of that 12 months. The archived captured confirmed 5,875 U.S. areas when that quarter started.
These numbers aren’t official retailer counts, however slightly based mostly on what Wendy’s lists publicly on its U.S. web site. The shop counts that Wendy’s reviews in monetary filings to the Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC) are usually barely completely different.
For instance, the corporate reported 5,979 U.S. eating places as of September 27 of final 12 months, dozens greater than what appeared on the locator device at the moment. It’s unclear what accounts for the discrepancy. Wendy’s didn’t reply to requests for remark.
Nonetheless, the shop locator device provides a window into the chain’s general retailer footprint and the way it modifications over time. The device is regularly up to date; as an illustration, one location in North Haven, Connecticut, that was reported closed simply this week has already disappeared from the device.
It’s additionally an excellent gauge of which areas of the nation are being most affected by Wendy’s closures. As of this week, the next states have seen the most important web declines in eating places because the fourth quarter of final 12 months:
- Florida: 475 areas (web lack of 24)
- Texas: 431 areas (web lack of 23)
- Illinois: 175 areas (web lack of 18)
- Arizona: 90 areas (web lack of 15)
- Colorado: 115 areas (web lack of 10)
- Ohio: 388 areas (web lack of 10)
- New Mexico: 33 areas (web lack of 8)
Native media reviews and evaluation platforms reminiscent of Yelp verify that the states above have seen a variety of Wendy’s closures in current months.
Final week, the Florida Instances-Union reported that a sign was being removed from a Wendy’s restaurant positioned within the Arlington neighborhood of Jacksonville. It reported that “a number of” areas have closed within the space.
Additionally final week, mySA, a information web site for residents in San Antonio, Texas, revealed that five Wendy’s locations have closed in that area.
It’s not clear if these particular closures are straight associated to the turnaround plan or whether or not the areas have closed for one more motive.
Why is Wendy’s closing?
There’s no getting round that Wendy’s has been in a stoop. Income slipped 3.1% final 12 months to $2.18 billion, and web earnings fell 15.1% to $165.1 million.
Whereas Wendy’s stays the second largest quick meals hamburger chain within the nation, and the third largest globally, it faces the identical headwinds which have been impacting the quick-service restaurant (QSR) phase for some time, together with increased working prices, more and more price-sensitive customers, and extra competitors from newer chains.
Shares of The Wendy’s Firm (Nasdaq: WEN) have fallen dramatically during the last 12 months, down roughly 44%, in comparison with a decline of about 8% for rival McDonald’s Company (NYSE: MCD).
What number of extra Wendy’s will closed?
Stories in February prompt that Wendy’s could close about 300 areas as a part of its turnaround plan, nevertheless it has not launched an official quantity. Quick Firm requested Wendy’s for extra particulars and can replace this story if we hear again.
The Wendy’s Firm is anticipated to report its subsequent earnings on Friday, Could 8 earlier than the opening bell. Buyers will little question be eagerly awaiting an replace on retailer closures—the destiny of Frostys in numerous cities dangle within the stability.
This story is creating…
