Posted on 10/29/2026 10:24:47 AM PDT by Red Badger
Wendy’s could see up to 60 more restaurants closed across the United States through mid-November as one of its largest franchise operators battles bankruptcy, according to USA Today.
Meritage Hospitality Group, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on September 17, has already shuttered 33 restaurants since entering bankruptcy proceedings and could reportedly shut down dozens more by November 13.
Meritage previously closed 60 underperforming locations before filing for bankruptcy. Reports differ on whether the 33 closures since the filing count toward the up-to-60 figure, so the total could reach roughly 120 or more.
The restaurant company operated 314 Wendy’s restaurants across 15 states when it filed for bankruptcy.
Meritage reported a $31.5 million net loss in 2025, followed by another $23.1 million loss during the first half of 2026, according to QSR Magazine.
The franchisee blamed weak sales, aggressive discounting and what it described as less effective Wendy’s marketing under the chain’s previous leadership. The financial pressures have been compounded by stubbornly high beef prices, which the Trump administration has struggled to bring down despite aggressive efforts to boost imports.
In February, President Donald Trump authorized an additional 80,000 metric tons of tariff-free beef imports from Argentina. Moreover, the White House in August allowed another 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef trimmings into the country at reduced tariff rates in hopes of lowering hamburger prices. However, the measures have delivered little relief so far. Ground beef prices have climbed over 22% since Trump returned to office.
Meritage’s bankruptcy has also triggered a bitter financial dispute between the restaurant company and Wendy’s, with the fast-food chain claiming the operator owes approximately $147 million in royalties, fees and other contractual charges.
The latest development has only made Wendy’s already difficult few years go from bad to worse. The burger chain has suffered over 300 net restaurant closures since 2024, including 245 during the first half of 2026, according to NRN.
People will pay good money for good food.
They will not pay good money for crappy food...............
We still have ‘em in AZ.
Now they are all owned by Venture Capital companies and the quality sucks.
The only thing I like is their chocolate frostys
I haven’t been to a Wendy’s in years.There used to be two in the county. They closed about 15 years ago (one became a Pollo Loco and the other a Jack-in-the-Box).
I admit to working on a college campus some years ago. A fair about of the fast food joints pulled out of the campus area. At one point all the big name burger and pizza joints were on campus. The problem they had is there is about 4 months of dead time during the year and the Express Woks started opening up. Most of the burger joints and pizza joints pulled out and set shop on the main drag and shopping center areas. I use to eat at Wendy's but haven't be back in years because of the inconvenient locations.
This article, a month old, fully discusses the reasons from a restaurant industry point of view:
Customer Experience: The kiosks cater to millennials and younger demographics who prefer self-service, while also reducing wait times and order errors during peak hours.
Of course I am just kidding. But I thought you might find the AI response amusing.
When I asked AI to get more information, since this kiosk option was not available the last time I ever went to Wendy's. Not sure when that date was, but it was well before 2016 when it started. Most likely a decade before.
Did the kiosk provide you with a receipt? I would imagine it would, and still the manager said there was nothing she could do?
I would have contacted Wendy's HQ and told them of my experience, because the manager was obviously lying with her response to you.
Could it be the one in Belle Vernon?
That one is always busy.
Same here their fry's stink, greasy. My favorite place is Tommy's Burgers but I don't live in so-cal anymore so I just have to go without.
It's probably a good thing since I read how they make their chili, it should be declared a weapon of mass destruction.
I still want one, thinking about it. I grab one whenever I visit California. I make the same pilgrimage to Whataburger in Texas.
I am a CPA. I can't tell you how many great businesses went downhill when it passed to the kids. Lots of them.
Bingo! That’s the one.
"Yes?"
Pramila Jayapal and Elizabeth Warren in unison, turning around.
They appear to favor places that would fail a health inspection.
Photo....
He was adopted under 6 months old by the Thomas family.
He started out as a US Army cook and liked making groups of people happy with his cooking. He had volunteered at age 18 to serve in Korea. The “Wendy” name and icon was for his daughter Wendy.
He got upset with me at that point. I guess I had insulted him.
The kiosk screen tells you that the receipt will be provided with your order. So there’s really no way to verify once your done.
Ah, I see. No proof provided. Did it at least inform you of your order # or something? Because she should have been able to look up that order number in the system.
We hardly eat out mainly because we try to eat clean food, and most restaurants don’t use organic, GMO free ingredients. Eating at home is expensive enough!
Wendy’s has about 5900 stores in the USA
The problem is with 300+ stores belonging to this franchisee, so this is a franchisee management issue.
It seems like they went deeply into debt, for whatever reason, haven’t paid their banks and haven’t paid Wendy’s license fees.
Of course, someone in the media had to add “Trump” into the story.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.