Wendy’s, the American fast-food chain, announced on Friday, February 13, that it will be closing approximately 5% to 6%, which is around 298 to 358 stores in the first half of this year. This decision is part of Wendy’s comprehensive “Turnaround Plan,” which was revealed by the company back in November last year to shut down several underperforming stores.
According to a report on Yahoo Finance on Friday, Ken Cook, the interim CEO of Wendy’s, mentioned in a financial conference call that as part of the “Turnaround Plan,” the company had already closed 28 stores in the fourth quarter of 2025. These closures were mutually agreed upon with franchisees to allow them to concentrate resources on more profitable stores.
Specific details about the affected stores have not been disclosed by the company yet. As of the end of 2025, Wendy’s still had 5,969 restaurants across the United States.
In recent years, Wendy’s US operations have been facing ongoing challenges. According to the company’s financial reports, same-store sales in the US dropped by 11.3% in the fourth quarter of 2025 and declined by 5.6% for the entire year. Global same-store sales slumped by 10% from October to December, exceeding analysts’ earlier expectations of an 8.5% decline as per FactSet survey.
Cook noted that the company had relied too much on limited-time price promotions in the past, diverting from the “everyday value strategy.” He pointed out in a call with investors, “One lesson we learned from 2025 is that we leaned too far into limited-time price promotions and not enough on the ‘everyday value strategy.'”
To address the trend of consumers dining out less due to inflation pressure, Wendy’s permanently introduced the “Biggie Deals” value menu in January, featuring items such as $4 Biggie Bites, $6 Biggie Bag, and $8 Biggie Bundle. These options aim to attract value-conscious customers.
The company also plans to launch new products this year, including a new chicken sandwich. Cook revealed that the chicken tenders product introduced last year, “Tendy’s,” performed well during a period of low same-store sales.
Financial reports indicated that Wendy’s fourth-quarter revenue in 2025 decreased by 5.5% to $543 million, slightly higher than analysts’ expected $537 million. The company expressed confidence in the future, believing that implementing the “Turnaround Plan” in the US combined with growth in international markets will help halt the decline in sales.
Wendy’s forecasts that global overall sales in 2026 (including company-operated and franchised restaurants) will remain stable. In 2025, sales fell by 3.5%.
Following the announcement of the above news, Wendy’s stock price rose by nearly 5% in midday trading on Friday.
Wendy’s, headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, took this store closure action as a further step following the closure of 240 US stores in 2024. At that time, the company stated that many store facilities had become outdated.
Similar to competitors like McDonald’s and Taco Bell, Wendy’s is striving to attract customers impacted by inflation by enhancing its value menu offerings to regain their patronage.