But in a conference call with investors Thursday, the company said those closures would be offset by opening new restaurants. Wendy’s said it plans to open between 250 and 300 restaurants this year.
Wendy’s President and CEO Kirk Tanner said restaurants that close perform worse than others.
“They’re just in places where our brands aren’t growing,” Mr. Tanner said. We are looking at a brand that is 55 years old and some of our restaurants are quite outdated.”
Wendy’s, based in Dublin, Ohio, did not provide a list of locations that will be closed. But Mr. Tanner said they are spread across the country.
“Our goal is to build new restaurants because we know they offer much more than the average of these underperforming restaurants,” he said. We want, overall, the best restaurants for customers and the customer experience we want to provide.”
Wendy’s had 7,292 restaurants at the end of the third quarter. More than 80% of them are in the United States.
Shares of Wendy’s were up 3.5% midday Friday.
U.S. restaurant sales have seen little growth this year as many consumers have opposed rising menu prices. Wendy’s same-store sales — or sales at locations open at least a year — rose less than 1% in the U.S. during the first half of this year.
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