As anyone who works in the industry knows, running a restaurant is difficult at the best of times but recently it has become notably harder. During 2024, restaurant operators have had to deal with higher operations costs, staffing issues, and an increasingly competitive market. What's more, the increased prices many restaurateurs have had to implement in order to offset costs have led to some patrons turning their back on all kinds of restaurants.
While being part of a larger entity has its benefits, the challenges that face chain restaurants are much the same as those independents have to contend with. What's more, a large operation is often harder to keep afloat as attested to by . Even chains that sell burgers, one of the most popular foods in the United States, are struggling.
The one major advantage chains have over independents is the ability to close underperforming restaurants yet still remain operational as a business. In this article, Wendy's Known as one of the few chains to , Wendy's is a firm favorite of Americans all over the country. The numbers back this up; according to , Wendy's is the second largest burger chain in the United States by sales with the chain selling a whopping $12.
3 billion of product during 2023. In order to sell such vast amounts of food, Wendy's needs a lot of restaurants; it has around 6,000 on U.S.
soil alone. But not all of these are slated to make it to the end of 2024. Wendy's CFO Gunther Plosch announced in a May earning's call that .