Over 300 Wendy’s Locations in Jeopardy as Major Franchisee Files for Bankruptcy

More than 300 Wendy’s restaurants are now caught in the middle of a major franchisee’s bankruptcy, adding another problem to the burger chain’s plate just as it tries to win customers back with a heavy dose of nostalgia.

According to The New York Post, Meritage Hospitality Group, which operates 314 Wendy’s locations across 15 states, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it attempts to restructure its finances. The restaurants remain open for now, and Meritage says it plans to continue operating while paying wages and benefits to roughly 9,000 employees.

But the filing places a sizable piece of Wendy’s franchise network under financial pressure: Wendy’s affiliate Quality Is Our Recipe LLC is Meritage’s largest unsecured creditor, with nearly $25 million in deferred fees owed.

The trouble runs deeper than one franchise operator. Meritage CEO Bob Schermer Jr. said in June that store-level earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization fell 48% in 2025, with higher beef prices and increased discounting eating into profits.

In announcing its restructuring, Meritage directly connected its financial situation to the problems facing Wendy’s overall.

“Because the substantial majority of Meritage’s restaurant portfolio operates under Wendy’s brand, those system-wide pressures have had a significant impact on the Company’s financial position,” the company said.

Those pressures have been building for a while. Wendy’s has posted six consecutive quarters of declining same-store sales, and Burger King overtook it as America’s No. 2 burger chain in August, ending Wendy’s six-year run behind McDonald’s. The chain has also gone through three CEOs since longtime chief Todd Penegor stepped down in 2024.

Current CEO Bob Wright didn't sugarcoat the situation in August, saying Wendy’s is “clearly not performing at our potential” while specifically identifying “traffic, our value proposition and franchisee economics” as problems.

He also outlined a five-point turnaround plan to get the chain back on track.

And that makes the timing of Wendy’s latest nostalgia push particularly notable. Beginning Sept. 28, the chain is bringing back the bright yellow packaging that defined an earlier era of Wendy’s after years of customers asking for its return.

The announcement made enough noise online that even the White House jumped into the conversation, responding to news of the comeback on social media.

Wendy’s itself credited fan demand, saying yellow has been part of the company “since the very beginning” and remains something customers “instantly recognize.”

Wendy’s isn't the only legacy fast-food brand looking backward while confronting very modern business problems. Pizza Hut has leaned hard into nostalgia with Pizza Hut Classic restaurants, vintage branding, and its Throwback Value Menu after years of emphasizing technology and AI.