Fast Food Chain With Over 100 Louisiana Locations Confirms Closures

(KMDL-FM) Competition in the fast-food industry has always been intense. And now, as consumers are having to negotiate higher prices on everything, fast food franchises are feeling the pinch. As families have fewer and fewer dollars of disposable income, fast-food drive-thrus are seeing fewer and fewer customers.

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It doesn't help that combo meals, which used to create a sense of value among customers, now cost as much as a meal in a sit-down restaurant does. If you happen to choose a specialty burger, a larger order of fries, and a specialty drink, you could be looking at close to $20 to feed a single person through the drive-thru.

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Why Are Sales Slipping At Fast Food Restaurants?

The fast food industry has done its best to combat this inflation fatigue by bringing back "value menus" and "dollar menus," but that strategy doesn't appear to be working well enough to save about 300 locations of a fast food giant that currently operates 121 locations in Louisiana.

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The news that was confirmed on Friday during a Q4 conference call by CEO Kent Cook confirmed the speculation that Wendy's was going ahead with plans to shutter between 5% and 6% of its locations nationwide. This came on the same day the company announced a marked decline in sales last year.

The shuttering of underperforming locations is collectively known as Project Fresh. The program has been active since November. This originally led to the speculation that Wendy's locations would be closing across the country. CEO Cook suggested in Friday's conference call that the company was working with franchise partners to identify underperforming locations.

Which Wendy's Locations Will Be Closing?

It has been reported that 28 locations of Wendy's across the country have already been closed as part of Project Fresh, and evidently, there are more locations being considered. The final list of locations that will be closing has not been made public.