Wendy's to close hundreds more locations in first half of 2026
Wendy's is closing hundreds more underperforming restaurants in the first half of this year, according to its fourth-quarter earnings report.
The Ohio-based fast food giant said Friday that it plans to close 5% to 6% of its U.S. restaurants in the coming months, or an estimated 298 to 358 stores out of its 5,969 U.S. locations.
The move comes after The Wendy's Company reported an 8.3% decrease 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 said 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 added that the company 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 said.
This round of store closures follows the shuttering of 240 Wendy's locations in 2024 and an announcement in November of additional closures to come, the details of which were released during Friday's earnings call.
A Wendy's spokesperson told ABC News on Monday that Cook highlighted the company's turnaround efforts.
"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," the representative said in an emailed statement to 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 expects that closing consistently underperforming restaurants will enable franchisee partners "to increase focus on locations with the greatest potential for profitable growth."
