Popular burger chain to close up to 350 stores – opened in 1969 | World | News

Wendy’s has over 5,830 locations in the United States, as per numbers from February this year.

However, as part of the popular burger-chain’s plan around five to six per cent of locations will shut in 2026.

This equates to about 350 underperforming stores.

The latest closure came in recent days when a restaurant at 4003 Wilmington Pike in Kettering, Ohio, had a sign posted on its front door which read: “This location is permanently closed.”

This is the second store in the Drayton area to shut in the last four months, as the Moraine store closed in Marach 2026.

Wendy’s has not announced that any other stores are scheduled to close.

In a fourth quarter earnings call CEO Ken Cook said: “By closing consistently underperforming restaurants, we are enabling our franchisee partners to increase focus on locations with the greatest potential for profitable growth.”

He added that closing around six per cent of locations under its Project Fresh program will improve profitability and franchisee economics.

The giant fast-food chain reported a 5.5% decline in global system wide sales driven by a 7.8% decrease in the US in the first quarter.

Wendy’s first opened in 1969, by Dave Thomas and now operates over 7,000 locations worldwide according to its website.