Fast-Food Giant (192 Illinois Stores) Plans Hundreds Of Closings

For quite a while after the pandemic, seeing stories about all sorts of different businesses closing multiple locations (if not the entire company) due to financial difficulties or underperforming stores was something that happened all the time.

Examples would include, but are not limited to:

• Red Lobster
• TGI Fridays
• Outback Steakhouse
• Hooters
• Applebee's
• Noodles & Company

The list goes on, but what we're covering today is the very recent announcement that a major player in the fast food game is going to be shuttering roughly 300 stores starting very soon and going through 2026 and possibly beyond.

One Of The Long-Time Major Players In The Fast Food Game Is Going To Be Closing Locations Across The Nation

That player, as the photo above clearly shows, is Wendy's.

A few days back, Wendy’s announced that it will be closing a “mid-single-digit percentage” of its US stores. Doing the math, that's roughly 200 to 350 locations out of its approximately 6,011 U.S. restaurants. The numbers are only a guess until Wendy's releases the locations being targeted for closing.

ABC7Chicago.com:

The new round of closures comes on top of the closure of 240 U.S. Wendy's locations in 2024. At the time, Wendy's said that many of the 55-year-old chain's restaurants are simply out of date.

Ken Cook, Wendy's interim CEO, said Friday the company believes closing locations that are underperforming - whether it's from a financial or customer service perspective - will help improve traffic and profitability at its remaining U.S. restaurants.

What Does Wendy's Announcement Mean For Illinois' Wendy's Locations?

Wendy’s currently lists 192 locations in Illinois on its store-finder. While the company did not release specific store addresses or markets slated for closure, most published reports give the 192-store figure and point out that Wendy's declined to provide a list of closures.

At this stage, no publicly confirmed list of Illinois stores being closed has been released, so it remains unclear which exact sites will be impacted.

Even though exact locations aren't yet known, areas with older or less trafficked Wendy’s stores are probably going to be more vulnerable than their more successful restaurants.