Wendy’s Closed Nearly 300 U.S. Restaurants in Months. Here’s What’s Behind the Collapse

When one of Wendy’s largest franchisees filed for Chapter 11 last month, it looked like a single operator’s collapse. Now, a restaurant analyst sees it as a warning for the whole company—especially amid a wave of store closures in 2026.

The franchisee, Meritage Hospitality Group, operates more than 300 Wendy’s locations and has reportedly planned to close at least 41 of them. While Wendy’s disputes the bankruptcy, citing an earlier termination of Meritage’s franchise agreement, the fallout adds to pressure the chain was already facing.

Wendy’s shut down over 240 U.S. restaurants in the first half of 2026, a figure it disclosed on its second-quarter earnings call, and leaves it with about 5,700 U.S. locations.

A Wendy’s spokesperson told Inc. that the company works closely with franchisees facing challenges and evaluates restaurant portfolios case by case. Its goal, the spokesperson said, is to “preserve operations, improve restaurant performance and position the Wendy’s system for sustainable long-term growth.” 

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They added that the company plans to share more about its strategy on its third-quarter earnings call on November 5.

John Gordon, a principal at the restaurant research firm Pacific Management Consulting Group told Inc. that more failures are likely. “We can rest assured that there will be more [closures],” he said.

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The roots of the problem, he said, are weak sales. Wendy’s has now posted six straight quarters of same-store sales declines and Gordon, who tracks weekly same-store sales for about 60 restaurant brands using credit card data, said the chain has ranked among the bottom five week after week for at least a year. “That tells me that none of their promotional programs have worked,” he said.