Looks like Wendy’s is trimming the fat. The fast-food chain is closing hundreds of underperforming restaurants in the first half of this year.
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The burger chain announced in its fourth-quarter earnings report last week that it plans to close 5% to 6% of its U.S. restaurants in the coming months. This equates to roughly 298 to 358 of its 5,969 locations nationwide, per ABC News.
This move follows The Wendy’s Company reporting an 8.3% drop in global sales for the fourth quarter.
“Our fourth quarter performance was in line with our expectations, reflecting the challenges we anticipated,” interim CEO Ken Cook explained in a statement. “We are making progress against our Project Fresh turnaround plan in the U.S. and continue to deliver strong growth internationally.”
Cook also pointed out that Wendy’s is “encouraged by the operational improvements we’ve driven at U.S. Company-operated restaurants and our marketing calendar for 2026, which includes new everyday Biggie value offerings and upcoming innovation across our core menu.”
“We’re executing Project Fresh with urgency to strengthen our foundation and position Wendy’s for long-term success,” he added.
Latest Wendy’s Loactations Closing Follows a Wave of Closing in 2024 and Last November
Meanwhile, this wave of store closures follows the shutdown of 240 Wendy’s locations in 2024. In November, the company announced additional closures, with details shared during Friday’s earnings call.
“A key pillar of this strategy is system optimization, which is about having the right footprint in each market to improve franchisee economics and enhance the customer experience,” a Wendy’s spokesperson told ABC News. “As part of this, he shared that we expect approximately 5% to 6% of U.S. restaurants to close, including 28 restaurant closures that occurred during the fourth quarter of 2025, with the remaining closures expected during the first half of this year.”
The company stated that closing underperforming restaurants will let franchisees “increase focus on locations with the greatest potential for profitable growth.”