57-year-old Burger chain closed 28 restaurants, 100s more coming

After announcing plans to adjacent hundreds of underperforming locations successful the archetypal fractional of 2026, a fast-food burger concatenation has revealed large changes crossed its business, including the anticipation of further edifice closures, arsenic it works to reverse ongoing declines successful postulation and sales.

The institution has besides acknowledged that its absorption connected outgo and ratio has, successful immoderate cases, weakened the brand's differentiation, a situation it present faces arsenic contention successful the edifice manufacture grows.

The concatenation is besides facing challenges with lawsuit satisfaction. Wendy's scored 77 retired of 100 successful the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), placing it beneath respective large fast-food rivals successful the 2026 rankings.

Wendy's caller strategy to boost maturation

Wendy's (WEN) is taking enactment aft reporting its sixth consecutive 4th of declines, launching a large turnaround program and updating its superior allocation strategy to supply the flexibility needed to enactment that effort.

"Today we are intelligibly not performing astatine our potential," said Wendy's President and CEO Bob Wright successful the company's second-quarter fiscal 2026 net release. "I returned to Wendy's due to the fact that I judge we tin hole our issues and I americium excited to enactment with our squad and our franchisees to thrust a beardown turnaround."

Related: Wendy's makes a immense lawsuit work mistake

The institution says it has implemented measures crossed 5 areas it has identified arsenic captious to the turnaround: rebuilding a prime paper astatine compelling value, selling that drives demand, operational excellence, a integer acquisition that builds frequency, and restaurants arsenic an motor for growth. 

"We've already started looking astatine indispensable restructuring and reorganization efforts, and I look guardant to sharing much details with you arsenic they develop," said Wright. "I'll beryllium intimately engaged successful cardinal decisions crossed the enactment and guarantee we are moving with focus, speed, and accountability."

The request for a turnaround comes arsenic Wendy's continues to look unit connected edifice postulation and sales. During the 2nd 4th of fiscal 2026, the institution reported:

• Global systemwide income declined 6.5% year-over-year

• U.S. systemwide income fell 8.2%

• U.S. same-restaurant income decreased 7%

Wendy's whitethorn adjacent much restaurants

The turnaround effort follows Wendy's announcement that it had already shuttered 28 locations during its fourth-quarter fiscal 2025 net telephone and expected to adjacent betwixt 5% and 6% of its U.S. restaurants, oregon astir 289 to 358 underperforming units, during the archetypal fractional of 2026.