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But
in a conference call with investors Thursday, the company said
those closures will be offset by new restaurant openings.
Wendy’s said it plans to open between 250 and 300 restaurants
this year.
Wendy’s President and CEO Kirk Tanner said the restaurants that
are closing are underperforming compared to others.
“They’re just in locations that don’t build our brands,” Tanner
said. “You look at a brand that’s 55 years old and some of those
restaurants are quite out of date.”
Dublin, Ohio-based Wendy’s didn’t provide a list of the
locations to be closed. But Tanner said they are spread out all
over the country.
“Our focus is on building new restaurants because we know they
deliver well over the average of these poor-performing
restaurants,” he said. “We, overall, want the best restaurants
for the customers and that customer experience we want to
deliver.”
Wendy’s had 7,292 restaurants at the end of the third quarter.
More than 80% of them are in the U.S.
Wendy's shares rose 3.5% in midday trading Friday.
U.S. restaurant sales have seen little growth this year as many
consumers pushed back against rising menu prices. Wendy’s
same-store sales – or sales at locations open at least a year –
were up less than 1% in the U.S. in the first half of this year.
Earlier in October, Denny's announced it will 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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