Wendy’s, the big fast food chain, faced a fresh wave of permanent store closures on Friday for the second weekend in a row as one of its biggest franchisees scrambled to restructure operations in the aftermath of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
According to a court docket filed late Friday, five additional restaurants owned by the Michigan-based Meritage Hospitality Group were slated to be abruptly shuttered and vacated that day.
As of early Monday morning, the five locations were still listed on Wendy’s store locator tool, though some of the closings were noted on Google reviews and by local media.
These five impacted Wendy’s restaurants are located in Indiana, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Florida. They follow five earlier store closures that took place the previous Friday in Virginia, Florida, Texas, and Oklahoma.
In total, Meritage has now closed at least 10 stores over the last two weekends. The recent Wendy’s closures are in addition to roughly 60 locations that Meritage shuttered before it sought Chapter 11 protection in mid-September.
As Fast Company previously reported, the franchisee has agreed to shut down and vacate at least 30 locations as part of a cash collateral deal with its primary lender, to which it owes $135 million, according to court filings.
Fast Company reached out to Meritage Hospitality Group and The Wendy’s Company for comment.
A former hotel operator, Meritage bought its first fleet of 28 Wendy’s restaurants in the late 1990s and grew to become one of the largest restaurant operators in the Wendy’s system.
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