Submitted 3 weeks ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to economics@lemmy.world
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/wendys-restaurants-closing-earnings-b2861226.html
Wendy’s is set to close hundreds of restaurants as customers struggling financially cut back on dining out.
Interim CEO Ken Cook announced on an earnings call Friday that the fast food chain will close a “mid single-digit percentage” of locations. With about 6,000 restaurants, Wendy’s could shutter between 200 to 350 locations.
Cook said some restaurants are expected to close as early as later this year, and locations will continue to shutter in 2026.
Do you think capitalism would be more successful if the people running it weren’t too stupid to understand that consumers need money to buy things.
Well they are mostly rewarded for threading the line. And if they go to much one way then everyone ends up poor, they shutter a few restaurants and get to invest in cheap properties for the next few years while waiting for tax payers to bail out the economy.
No
I wonder if it has anything to do with the 13$ cheeseburgers
*$13. You saved no time in typing it wrong and look stupid. Congratulations.
Come here and gargle my balls loser.
at least they dont look like a complete jackass
When i speak, I say thirteen dollars. When I write, I sometimes don’t reverse it 13$ means I was typing as i speak and not like an accountant making a report or something.
Language prescriptivism in the big 25
They’re cheaper than other fast food in my experience
Have they SEEN the prices in their restaurants??? Who the fuck wants to pay eight to nine dollars for a salad (especially when that salad is now much smaller than it was six months ago… I fucking saw that Wendy’s and will not be ordering again).
Capitalism is a failed experiment
Normally I'd even go a step further and challenge the idea that capitalism even exists in the postmodern world, but honestly stores shutting down because they aren't making enough money to continue operating is capitalism working as intended, not the opposite. And for once, that's a good thing.
Most forms of economic system, particularly central economic planning, would tend to choose stores based on metric other than whether they were actually cashflow positive, resulting in higher resource utilization, lower efficiency, and so worse outcomes overall.
Because Wendy's won't be using that building any longer, a different restaurant could take its place, and see if it can build a profitable business in its place. In my city, a local business took over such a building, and they make the best burgers on locally made buns in the city.
A new business could take it’s place if landlords would lower the cost of the rent after it sits empty for a while. I hear they often do not as lowering the rent lowers the building value.
I’m sure the people who worked at all those places for their living don’t mind.
You are dismissing human suffering to simp for the system causing the suffering
That’s silly. It worked great for centuries. Now we are facing a new situation where it does not work and creates problems it cannot solve which is why we should look to a new system.
I just want to be the nerd that says if the system started and worked well enough to sustain itself to a point, and then stopped working, that would be a failed experiment right.
We have been under the control of Capitalists for at least the last 150 years, and humanity hasn’t gone extinct yet
This can be said about literally any economy or social system ever…
I haven’t been out to eat since the pandemic. I got used to cooking my own meals. The prices have gotten ridiculous for what you get, and the service sucks. They can all go out of business for all I care.
Aren’t groceries in the US quite a bit more expensive than eating at a restaurant? As a European this always amazed me. But I think you’re on the right track here eating less processed food, even if it costs a bit more.
No, not at all. I can make all sorts of good, healthy, inexpensive meals for less than the cost of fast food. While it is true that grocery prices have risen quite a bit in the last year, it’s still way cheaper than eating out, and much better for you.
In a few cases where you are making something once it can be more expensive because you can't buy one teaspoon of a spice or have to buy more than you need. Initially there is cookware to purchase and upkeep, and things like that.
But if you make more than one meal from the same prep, or serve multiple people, eating at home is almost always cheaper in the long run as nearly everything in the kitchen lasts for years at a minimum and often a lifetime. Especially if you plan long term and get staples in bulk when it makes sense and buy more expensive things when they are on sale.
So I just went to do a roughly like to like comparison.
So the mainstream burger at Wendy’s is currently about 5.69 where I live.
I can get the supplies needed to make about 6 equivalent burgers for about 25, so about 4.17 a burger. Mostly because beef is pretty expensive right now.
Realistically speaking i would cook something other than burgers, but closest to like.
I suspect pricing out salads would be crazy more in favor of grocery, since Wendy’s charges a lot for salads.
If you compare the cheapest burger to the most expesnive cut of steak or something they are. Often people do make such comparisons because they that is what they are cooking at home vs what they eat when they go out. You can buy premade frozen burgers you just microwave to cook as well - I've only seen the price in vending machines where they are more than a fast food burger but you can get them at grocery stores too.
But if you are cooking real meals with similar ingredients it is cheaper to cook at home.
Maybe part of the problem is that eating at Wendy’s is now apparently “dining out.”
This is the MOST Terrible news I’ve heard ALL YEAR! Have they tried Raising Prices and Lowering Wages in response? That USUALLY works!
not to mention offers from local places that are not chains are close to if not cheaper than the fake food at the fast-food places
Wendy’s used to be excellent. Then Dave Thomas died.
It was so fast too. I remember the fries got smaller and then the frosties did too. Then the Dave’s Single became a thing of the past. Now if you are under 25 i don’t think you even remember who Dave was.
sweet tea is so much better at the local joints and usually cleaner and way fresher like the food
I can get fresh squeezed limeade at my local mexican corner store/tortilla shop and it’s so fucking good.
That’s an oddly specific and focused take on food service. Not wrong, just not something that most people (around here) think about when considering fast food.
Cleanliness of the drink fountains is a thought many people have.
I’m not picky with fast food, but the local Wendy’s is revolting. Only went in there for the chili sauce, now that’s not enough to tempt me. The Burger King is even worse and the McDonald’s get worse with each visit.
The burger I normally get has gone from $1.89 to $2.35… AND the threshold for coupons is now $5…
So Wendy’s has lost me as a customer. If I ate 2 JR Hamburgers and a large Fry I’d never get anything done
Im definitely a part of this as when I did get fast food wendys was higher than some others like mcdonalds due to price/quality ratio.
Not surprised and honestly kind of sick of it. When the company has to tout a $5 Biggie Bag as proof customers are coming back, that screams demand is weak at the low end where most fast food depends on traffic. Closing 200 to 350 locations is pruning, sure, but it’s also a real sign that consumers are cutting dining out when their paychecks don’t keep up with prices.
This isn’t just bad site selection, it’s macro. Same-store sales pressure, stubborn inflation, and squeezed lower-income households mean fewer impulse trips. Franchisees take the hit first, corporate paints closures as “optimizing,” and investors clamor for margins while traffic dries up. Wendy’s stock being down nearly half this year isn’t a coincidence.
Short term this might boost profitability at nearby units, long term it’s a canary in the coal mine for discretionary spending. If wages and household balance sheets don’t improve, expect more pruning across the sector, not a quick rebound.
Make the mushroom melt a regular item and I’ll eat there weekly
RandomStickman@fedia.io 3 weeks ago
Clearly he Kennot
Iamsqueegee@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Ken’t
AlreadyDefederated@midwest.social 3 weeks ago
He’s not Kennough.
SendMePhotos@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
What’s his pay? Can he take a pay cut and save the stores?
ivanafterall@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
They’re surely hammering out the details as we speak. No leader will just throw their people under the bus.
ivanafterall@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Ken Cooked