Wendy's to close roughly 300 stores nationwide in late 2025. Are any in Michigan?

Wendy's Plans to Close Hundreds of Stores Nationwide in Late 2025

Ohio-based Wendy's currently operates about 6,000 locations across the United States. The fast-food chain is set to close roughly 300 stores within the next year, following the closure of 140 locations earlier.

Details from the Quarterly Earnings Call

During a quarterly earnings call on November 7, interim CEO Ken Cook explained that Wendy's will close a “mid single-digit percentage” of its stores. With approximately 6,000 restaurants operating nationwide, this translates to about 240 to 360 closures. One investor estimated the number around 300 during the call.

“When we look at the system today, we have some restaurants that do not elevate the brand and are a drag from a franchisee financial performance perspective,” Cook said. “The goal is to address and fix those restaurants.”

Cook highlighted that some locations will be improved through upgraded technology or equipment or may be transferred to new operators. In other instances, stores will be closed completely.

Expansion and Closures Balance in 2024

Wendy's spokesperson Heidi Schauer confirmed that about 250 to 300 new locations were expected to open in 2024. However, after a strategic review, the company now anticipates a similar number of closures, resulting in nearly flat net growth for the year.

“After our strategic review, we now expect a similar number of closures as openings, so we expect net unit growth in 2024 to be roughly flat,” Schauer said in a statement.

Timeline and Michigan Locations

Author's summary: Wendy's will close about 300 stores nationwide starting late 2025, balancing new openings to keep overall growth flat, with no specific Michigan closures announced yet.

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Lansing State Journal Lansing State Journal — 2025-11-07

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