Wendy’s is closing 140 more restaurants as part of an initiative to update its locations

Wendy’s plans to close 140 U.S. restaurants by the end of this year, in addition to 100 it said would close in May.

However, during a conference call with investors on Thursday, the company said those closures would be offset by new restaurant openings. Wendy’s said it plans to open 250 to 300 restaurants this year.

Wendy’s president and CEO Kirk Tanner said the closing restaurants are underperforming compared to others.

“They’re just in locations that don’t build our brand,” Tanner said. “When you look at a brand that’s 55 years old, some of these restaurants are pretty dated.”

Dublin, Ohio-based Wendy’s did not provide a list of locations to be closed. But Tanner said they are scattered across the country.

“We are focused on building new restaurants because we know they deliver well above the average of these underperforming restaurants,” he said. “Overall, we want to have the best restaurants for customers and the experience we want to provide.”

At the end of the third quarter, Wendy’s had 7,292 restaurants. Over 80% of them are located in the USA

Wendy’s shares rose 3.5% in midday trading on Friday.

U.S. restaurant sales have seen modest growth this year, much to the detriment of many consumers rising menu prices. Wendy’s same-store sales – that is, at locations open for at least a year – rose less than 1% in the U.S. in the first half of this year.

In early October, Denny’s announced will close 150 locations by the end of 2025 and red lobster filed for bankruptcy protection in May after closing dozens of stores.