Back in the day, Wendy’s hamburger chain had a commercial that asked, “Where’s the beef?”
Officials for the Dublin, Ohio-based restaurant chain announced last week that the beef will, in fact, be available in a lot fewer places.
In a conference call with investors, officials announced plans to close hundreds of U.S. restaurants in the next few months to try and boost its profits and make its remaining stores more appealing.
The chain plans to start closing stores in the fourth quarter, expecting the percentage of stores it closes to be in the “mid-single-digit” range, the Associated Press reported. Wendy’s ended the third quarter with 6,011 U.S. restaurants. If 5% of those locations were impacted, it would mean 300 store closures, according to the AP report.
The new closures are in addition to the 240 locations the chain closed last year. At the time, the AP reported, Wendy’s said that many of the 55-year-old chain’s restaurants are simply out of date.
Ken Cook, who became Wendy’s interim CEO in July, 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.
“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. The goal is to address and fix those restaurants,” Cook said during a conference call with investors, according to the AP.
