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Albuquerque sees string of Wendy’s closures as fast-food chain looks to revitalize brand

Closing underperforming restaurants are part of chain’s ongoing ‘turnaround plan’ for US operations

A sign stands over a Wendy’s restaurant in 2021, in Des Moines, Iowa. The fast-food chain has recently closed several of its Albuquerque locations, along with one in Santa Fe.
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Several local Wendy’s restaurants have ceased operations in a sudden string of closures largely concentrated in the Albuquerque area.

Locations that have permanently closed

In Albuquerque:

  • 10169 Coors NW

  • 3340 Coors NW

  • 1902 Lomas NW

  • 1808 Central SE

  • 6204 San Mateo NE

  • 2203 Wyoming NE

  • 6600 Menaul NE

  • 4800 Menaul NE

In Santa Fe:

  • 2018 Cerillos Road

Eight Wendy’s appear to have shuttered across Albuquerque, shrinking the fast-food chain’s footprint in the Duke City by half. One location in Santa Fe also appears closed, bringing the state’s total loss of known Wendy’s locations to nine.

A Wendy’s spokesperson declined to share a list of closures and referred the Journal to the locations list on Wendy’s website.

Through comparing on the business-review platform Yelp with the list of open locations on Wendy’s , the Journal found that, in recent months, Albuquerque was home to at least 16 Wendy’s. As of Monday, only eight of those locations appeared on the Wendy’s list of open locations.

Additionally, only two of Santa Fe’s three Wendy’s locations now appear on the chain’s website. The rest of the state’s 33 Wendy’s locations remain open.

The closures come about six months after the company announced it would across the ϼ States as part of a “turnaround plan” dubbed “Project Fresh,” according to a Wendy’s spokesperson. The closures started last year and were expected to continue this year.

The plan — geared toward revitalizing and optimizing the brand, its operations and use of capital — fast-food chains seeing an overall decline in traffic, as Americans face higher prices and rising costs of food and living.

The chain’s , from May 8 for this year’s first quarter, showed a 7% decline in U.S. sales compared to the same time last year. The company’s total revenues were up by 3%, with the majority of the growth coming from international markets.

In that earnings report, Wendy’s announced it entered into a franchise agreement to build up to 1,000 restaurants across China over the next 10 years. But in the U.S., Wendy’s ended the first quarter with roughly 153 fewer locations than the end of 2025.

More closures could come in the second quarter, a Wendy’s spokesperson said in an email. By working closely with Wendy’s franchisees, the spokesperson said Wendy’s has “completed more than half of our planned footprint optimization and (remains) on track to be substantially completed by the end of the second quarter.”

The spokesperson did not answer a question about how many employees have been impacted by the New Mexico closures.

“We are taking decisive action to strengthen the Wendy’s system and improve performance,” Interim Wendy’s CEO Ken Cook said in a statement. “While our first quarter results reflect a business in the early stages of a turnaround, we are making progress to improve our U.S. business and are confident in the direction we are heading.”

Kylie Garcia covers retail and real estate for the Journal. You can reach her at kgarcia@abqjournal.com.