America’s attraction to fast-food burgers accelerated in the 1980s with the start of the Burger Wars between McDonald’s and Burger King which featured huge ad campaigns and price reductions to bring more customers into the chains’ stores.
McDonald’s (MCD) has remained the top fast-food burger chain over the years, while Burger King held the No. 2 spot until 2012, when Wendy’s (WEN) captured the second spot.
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Burger King would wrestle the No. 2 title away three years later, but the two continue to battle for the second position annually with Wendy’s currently holding the No. 2. spot.
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Currently, it’s no contest for McDonald’s, which holds a massive lead in sales over its competition. The Chicago-based fast-food giant in 2023 finished the year with by far the highest amount of systemwide sales than any other burger chain in the U.S., totaling $53.1 billion, according to data firm Statista.
Wendy’s finished second in systemwide sales in 2023 with $12.2 billion, and Burger King was third with $10.9 billion in sales. Rounding out the Top 5 were Sonic with $5.5 billion and Jack in the Box with $4.4 billion.
Sales numbers can determine which chains most people patronize, but when it comes to a recent taste test, none of those five chains with the top sales made the Top 3.
A taste test in August, that included McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, Five Guys, and regional chains In-N-Out and Habit, revealed that Habit’s Double Char was the favorite burger in the taste test, followed by In-N-Out’s Double-Double and Five Guys’ Bacon Cheeseburger, according to Food Chain Magazine.
McDonald’s Big Mac and Burger King’s Whopper each received honorable mentions. Wendy’s didn’t make the cut.
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While Wendy’s wasn’t preferred in the taste test, the fast-food chain is still attracting customers and generating significant sales, but maybe not enough.
Wendy’s closing 140 restaurants
Wendy’s revealed during its Oct. 31 third-quarter earnings call that it will close 140 out-of-date and underperforming locations with lower profit margins, which generate $1.1 million or less in revenue per year, by the end of 2024.
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The company’s CEO Kirk Tanner said that the closures will strengthen the overall health of the company. The company’s CFO Gunther Plostch said that the closings will offset new restaurant openings resulting in flat net unit growth.
Wendy’s said it expects to open 250 to 300 new locations globally in 2024. The chain, which operates 7,292 units worldwide, closed 111 locations systemwide in the first three quarters of the year. The closed stores included 78 franchised and six corporate-owned units in the U.S.
Wendy’s does not consider the proposed closures a significant amount, as Tanner said the company could add about 1,000 new units in the U.S. The company expects new locations to be divided 70% international units and 30% domestic.
By the end of 2024, Wendy’s will have added over 500 new restaurants in the last two years, Tanner said.
Wendy’s closures follow casual dining chain Denny’s decision to close 150 restaurants, with 50 to be shut down by the end of 2024 and another 100 by the end of 2025.
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