Wendy’s took a hit in the burger wars last month, when research firm Technomic announced that archrival Burger King had passed Wendy’s in U.S. sales in 2016, thereby ending the Dublin, Ohio-based chain’s reign as the second-biggest burger vendor in the country.
But on Wednesday, Wendy’s unveiled a plan that could bring it back to number two. Nation’s Restaurant News reported that the chain will open 1,000 new locations by the end of 2020. Though this count doesn’t include any potential store closures, it represents a huge expansion. There are currently about 6,500 Wendy’s locations open around the world, so 1,000 more would raise the total by 15 percent.
One new store in particular will be the long awaited Louisville Ohio location which has been requested in high demand in the past years. Ground was finally broken for this new location on Route 44 near the Route 62 on ramp. This new location is set to open later this year and is promising to bring in big profits for the chain. No word yet has been released when the store will start hiring. Pat Johnson, the lead developer for the location, said Monday that he believes that with the new Wendy’s location, the already established Burger King and McDonalds is about to have a run for its money.
The overwhelming majority of these new outposts will be operated by franchisees, as has been the chain’s wont in recent years. Franchisees will be required to build most of the new restaurants using the new designs that Wendy’s first started developing in 2011, which have generally spurred higher sales than their older counterparts.
More details will be released as soon as they are available.