Wendy’s Shuts Down Hundreds of its Locations

Written By Brionna Gillis

By Brionna Gillis

Wendy’s has announced plans to close several hundred locations across the United States as it seeks to refresh its menu and increase spending on digital, social, and streaming advertising platforms. The company outlined the strategy last Friday after reporting a weaker-than-expected fourth quarter, per TimesNow News.  

Courtesy of People

“I’m a little surprised at the closures. I know some locations do better than others, but I didn’t think it was large enough for several locations to be closing down,” said Amani Weather, a fourth-year English education major. 

The company reported a 10 percent drop in global comparable sales in the fourth quarter, including the 11.3 percent decline in the U.S which is its largest market. The results fell short of the Wall Street expectation and capped off a bruising end of the year for the company. The fourth quarter came in at $113.3 million, narrowly topping analyst estimates of about $112.6 million, per the New York Post.

“It’s not crazy that they have a reported a drop in things like sales because with things like Doordash and other stuff that allows for you to get a real meal in fast amounts of time, its like why would I order Wendy’s when I can get sushi,” said Malia Horton, a fourth-year psychology major. 

The company plans to shut down about five or six percent of its U.S. restaurants. That includes 28 closures that happened in 2025 and the rest taking place in the first half of 2026 with 240-360 locations closing. Wendy’s has already stopped operations in restaurants in West Lafayette, Indiana; Stockton, California; and Langhorne, Pennsylvania. 

During the time of its closing, Wendy’s plans to strengthen its value offerings but also to improve its profits and menu. One of the ways that the restaurant plans to improve its menu is the offering of new items such as a new cheesy bacon cheeseburger, the expansion of its chicken range with the introduction of a chicken tender and much more. 

“As we continue to incorporate learnings to enhance the menu, strengthen our marketing calendar, and improve messaging and media effectiveness, we expect momentum to build sequentially, as we move through 2026,” said Ken Cook, Wendy’s interim chief executive, told NBC.

Brionna Gillis

My name is Brionna Gillis. I am a graduating senior, journalism major and political science minor from Baltimore, Maryland. Outside of WHOV-TV Digital Team, I am a part of Campus Plus, Contemporary Composer, NABJ, and one of the Digital Editors for the Title III newsletter, just to name a few. I also served as a writer for the Hampton Script. I enjoy reading, particularly romance and fantasy, writing, and listening to music. My enjoyment of writing comes from its form of being another way of self-expression, I don’t always articulate how I am feeling or what I am thinking in the way that I want to, writing allows me to gather my thoughts and put them down on a page. Writing also allows me to relax and get out any negative thoughts that I have been harboring. I also enjoy writing because it allows me to share stories that people have never heard/seen before. My plan after graduating from Hampton is to become a writer for a newspaper or news station and eventually become an investigative reporter.

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