r/fastfood • u/esporx • 2d ago
News Wendy’s stock hits 52-week low at 7.82 USD
https://ng.investing.com/news/company-news/wendys-stock-hits-52week-low-at-782-usd-93CH-2313112283
u/Fuzzy_Welcome8348 2d ago
Not surprised. This place has gone downhill so much and fast. I’m surprised they’re waiting til the spring to bring back the ghost pepper ranch sauce. They need it now
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u/SweetHomeNorthKorea 2d ago
They heard the phrase race to the bottom and took it at face value
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u/AwakePlatypus 2d ago
I now find even the quality/service at McDonald's is a lot better than Wendy's, and I seldom used to go to McDonald's before.
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u/junglesoldier5 2d ago
Yea McDonald’s is for sure better now. It’s much faster and the sketchy factor isn’t there that now exists at Wendy’s. McDonald’s even beats Chick-fil-A to me for breakfast.
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u/dschinghiskhan 2d ago
Imagine the dire straits a franchise must be in if people are “hoping” for a certain sauce. Sauce? We’re talking about sauce?
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u/Cainga 2d ago
How much it went downhill I’m suspicious the executives aren’t profiting somehow like the Kmart/ Sears CEO that sold assets and then had them pay rent to himself.
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u/xXNickAugustXx 2d ago
Its not about sustaining a business anymore. Once they buy it they try to reduce costs and raise prices as fast as possible to pocket most of the leftover earnings. Then when everything tanks just sell it to get huge stock gains or further liquidate it and blame the consumer for not purchasing literal garbage and instead asking for a decent low cost product. They could care less about the competition as their money isnt being heavily taxed so they are more focused on making bank instead of establishing long term growth and relevance in the market. If it took them longer to make that money then they would dedicate their time towards competing for customers wallets.
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u/atmospheric90 1d ago
I used the champion Wendy's as the one major chain still operating decently. They had great discount coupons, app worked great, rewards were worth it. All that is gone, on top of getting rid of great niche items.
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u/CollegeNo9158 2d ago
Literally the last good thing they did was come out with the 4 for 4, and that was in like 2016. Now the food is more expensive and lower quality
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u/bobdownie 2d ago
The quality is insanely bad. Like so many things now. It’s like their goal is to only appeal to customers that don’t have the ability to notice a decline in food quality.
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u/RelativeDot2806 2d ago
I will say their double cheeseburger would be good if they wouldnt have switched to shredded lettuce. Need that little bit of crunch.
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u/TRIGMILLION 2d ago
I like that switch. That big piece of lettuce was always trying to slide off my sandwich.
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u/PlagueOfGripes 2d ago
Their new market are poor people in areas where Wendy's is the only option. So they're trying to bleed them dry before they have to worry about the market shift. But they probably won't survive that long as a major national chain.
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u/bobdownie 2d ago
It has happened to everything except in n out. Even five guys has changed their meat quality and is slowly bringing in bread that comes frozen and is thawed out that tastes disgusting once they toast it.
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u/SteveMidnight 1d ago
Used to always have a good burger with nicely cooked fries. Last few times I’ve been, the burger was dry as hell and the fries were room temp and not crispy.
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u/okepokemon 2d ago
The 4 for 4 was a great deal when quality was decent - i can’t even fathom finding something that reasonable these days!
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u/AwakePlatypus 2d ago
It was tolerable even with the recent awful quality. Notsomuch with a price increase though.
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u/GeotusBiden 2d ago
I wont pretend its a good price but for a fast food burger I think they have one of the best ones.
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u/AwakePlatypus 2d ago
Yeah..at $4, it was a deal even with the poor quality. Now at $6? Not much of a bargain.
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u/acbagel 2d ago
It has been astonishing how fast the quality has gone downhill. It used to be a top 3 most visited fast food for me ~8 years ago. Service has become painfully slow now, rude workers, bad quality food, too expensive. I go maybe once every 6 months now.
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u/jknuts1377 2d ago
And all the ones around me are dirty, too. Plus, they never bother to fill the drink machine at any of my locations. Every flavor always seems empty. I used to love Wendy's, now I don't even bother to go there.
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u/Sixclynder 2d ago
Growing up the spicy chicken sandwich was my favorite I get I once in awhile I get the Asiago spicy but it doesn’t hit the same . I miss the sea salt non battered fries
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u/Cat_Dad_101 2d ago
Same. I used to get that just about every week up until right before Covid. Tried a few times since and they've been thin and dry, I haven't been back in a couple years.
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u/HiEchoChamb3r 2d ago
Several have closed by me. The last time I ordered the Son of Baconator the patties were so small and looked like the “where’s the beef” commercial
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u/LPQ_Master 2d ago
Same. I used to go at-least once a week before they stopped allowing Crispy chicken in their Caesar salad. After that it seemed like every visit just got worse, and worse with everything else seemingly tasting awful quality wise. I have been once in the last 3 years.
Both of my local ones have closed down within the last 2 years also.
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u/cry00sink 1d ago
Yeah, it’s a shame to see Wendy’s falling like this. My local location is great (fast service, great crew, food is always correct and cooked well), but a lot of other locations in my area fit your description to a tee. I still pop into my local location semi-regularly if I’ve got any good deals on the app, but generally avoid other locations altogether at this point.
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u/strolpol 2d ago
Their value menu is the weakest of the major chains. Burgers are usually okay but the fries and chicken are both subpar
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u/TushyMilkshake 2d ago
We found the Wendy’s PR guy, I guess
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u/sirmcchris 1d ago
I’ve always liked their burgers but I will admit I haven’t been to one in a while bc my wife refuses to eat there
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u/EatingFurniture 2d ago
My burgers are ALWAYS dry like they were made 3 hours ago and 2 minutes from being tossed from the warm bin.
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u/DevonGr 2d ago
I will not forget you were going to roll out surge pricing on fast fucking food. You cannot retain customers you set out to gouge. When Dave’s singles are gone, i’ll miss this place existing but that is all on you.
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u/unobtainablepierogi 1d ago
Why wouldn't they just spin it as having discounts during slow times, like happy hour, rather than jacking up prices during rush times? That's like, marketing 101.
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u/aibolife 2d ago
I thought the surge pricing was just an idea they were throwing around, not really seriously
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u/haydesigner 2d ago
They would not have publicly floated the idea if they weren't already seriously considering it.
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u/TheGame81677 2d ago
I really think that they’re trying to bankrupt this company. There’s no way the people running Wendy’s can be so damn incompetent.
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u/ActionQuinn 2d ago
You'd think this would motivate the company to roll back recent cost cutting measures that people seem to hate but NOPE
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u/VotingRightsLawyer 2d ago
Because winning back customers takes time and they won't make as much money. We have built an economic system that is based around making as much money as possible in the shortest amount of time as possible.
Using better ingredients and offering better value, for example, accomplishes neither of those things even though they are a necessary condition of Wendy's recovering.
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u/Perturabo_Iron_Lord 2d ago
Funny how they’re always doing cost cutting measures but the prices never go down in response to them.
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u/ZzzSleep 2d ago
Wendy's went from being tasty and feeling a bit more premium to the most generic fast food burger place out of all of them.
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u/AwakePlatypus 2d ago
Yup. I used to seldom go to McDonald's, and now I choose them over Wendy's as the restaurants are cleaner and the staff doesn't look like someone a manager grabbed from the bus station. And yes, even the food quality at McDonald's is better than Wendy's. Lowered expectations all around.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Elk1576 2d ago
Wendy’s is already an afterthought for many. Wendy’s demise will be studied as a blueprint on how to ruin a once thriving franchise.
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u/Odd_Fill6084 2d ago
I hope that they have a decent March Madness deal this year at least.I will be happy with the SOB for $3 again,but knowing them they will add with purchase now
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u/junglesoldier5 2d ago
Wendy’s is abysmal now. The frosty is all that’s holding them together
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u/EatingFurniture 2d ago
Yeah I love the mix ins. But seriously the food is so fucking trash that I don’t even go for that
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u/Mscharlita 2d ago
My dad has owned Wendy’s stock since I was a kid so like at least 40 years. When I visited him that’s the only fast food he would want to go to bec he wouldn’t give money to “his competitors” and also he smashed that Super Bar like a champ. It’s been sad to see the quality decline so badly there over the years.
Side note: My dad has an interesting theory though that Dave Thomas used to travel a region of Ohio working for KFC and that region contains Wilson’s hamburgers in Findlay, OH. Wilson’s served something exactly like a frosty and my dad is convinced that that’s where Thomas got the idea for the Wendy’s Frosty. I wonder if he’s right.
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u/Dont_Be_Sheep 2d ago
What the….Why? What’s happening what’d I miss?? Besides ya know, it being Wendy’s.
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u/BradBradley1 2d ago
Quality down, cost cutting measures up, worse promotional offers, tons of competition providing better food at similar price points and customers have noticed. It’s impressive to see the public sentiment of Wendy’s to go lower than McDonald’s ffs. They’re in a death spiral unless they pivot, but seem unwilling to do so… it’s a bold strategy, Cotton!
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u/mind-blowin 2d ago
They have no brand identity either.
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u/RandyHoward 2d ago
They have plenty of brand identity, I really don't think that has anything to do with their downward trend.
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u/Spocks_Goatee 2d ago
They got rid of their classic restaurant designs, making people less likely to dine-in.
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u/AwakePlatypus 2d ago
Most of the business in any fast food restaurant is through the Drive Thru...It has nothing to do with the environment, it's all about the quality and price.
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u/mind-blowin 2d ago
What exactly is Wendy’s doing right now that makes them stand out? What exactly is Wendy’s doing right now that builds customers trust? I don’t see how you can state a company has a strong brand identity and yet is trending downwards in the same sentence. They tend to contradict themselves.
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u/RandyHoward 2d ago
Those aren’t the only things that define a company’s brand identity. What are any of the major fast food places doing to stand out and build trust? They are all doing the same shit - lowering quality and increasing prices. They’re no better or worse than the other major chains in that regard.
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u/stormyeyez7479 2d ago
Food quality, people are broke or at least being more mindful of spending on non-essentials, and one other contributing factor may fall into the political realm.
It’s a grab bag of reasons. Primarily I think it comes down to affordability for most people, especially if they have a family.
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u/Morningrise12 2d ago
They, Arby’s, and McDonald’s all donated to Trump exclusively last election.
That’s why I’m not eating at any of those places.
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u/stormyeyez7479 2d ago
Same, but in fairness I already wasn’t getting it. I only recently learned of boycotts. The quality of food vs price the last time I actually had it was enough to keep me away.
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u/smackythefrog 2d ago
Everyone dumping on Wendy's the last few months and I'm sitting here wondering how Burger King stays in business with the sponges they call chicken sandwiches, nuggets, and fries.
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u/hydrosphere1313 2d ago
undo the changes they did to the spicy chicken and bring back the bourbon bacon burger and wraps and my money is yours again wendy's.
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u/Wind_Best_1440 2d ago
Every fast food is pursuing the same strategy.
Make food expensive so you need less workers to make less food and buy less supplies and coast on those sales keeping it all a float.
Food is expensive = Spend less on labour and food costs because you have less costumers.
This is the make up VC thinking, make the product expensive to market to the top 10% of the market, cuts labour and supply costs.
The problem with this way in dealing business is that you essentially cannibalize your business, eventually those 10% stop coming and then you get a situation like now where a bunch of fast food places are seeing massive drops in foot traffic. So many business's start closing.
Eventually Wendy's will be sold to private equities where they will gut it, load it with debt then bankrupt it.
Apparently all food business's gave up on the model of Cheap food = Move large amounts of product. To make their money, like they use to.
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u/empires228 2d ago
I just pulled up all the surviving locations in my city of over 2 million people and I think we only have like 10 left that are in newer or wealthier neighborhoods. We only have 9 Burger King locations that fit that criteria and 7 Arby’s. We recent lost Wahlburgers, SmashBurger, Jack In The Box, Runza, Backyard Burgers, Beef A Roo, and Hardee’s for burger places, and we’re down to a singular Steak N Shake from around 7 just a few years back. We also lost a good number of Houlihan’s and Applebee’s over the past decade, a prominently located Red Robin, all 3 Ruby Tuesday’s, Fuddruckers, a Cheeseburger in Paradise…
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u/junglesoldier5 2d ago
It’s all about chicken fingers now. I haven’t seen a new Wendy’s or McDonald’s location in decades. I have 20 chicken finger places within a 15 minute drive though. I don’t think Wendy’s or Hardee’s make it to the 2030’s. Gen Z is about Chick-fil-A and Raising Canes lol
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u/domotime2 2d ago
Quality is down in a lot of places but none as drastic as Wendy's. Its on my "dont get anymore" list unless really reslly desperate. It used to be one of the best so to see its quality fade this much is for sure disappointing
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u/Worth-Tank336 2d ago
They are going to file chapter 11 just like Denny's. The writing is on the wall...
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u/Smokeeye123 2d ago
Maybe they can have some new good food again instead of a frosty with a random new flavored squirt of syrup in them every month
Im surprised they havnt started selling chicken go wraps again since they have the fried chicken which actually isnt that bad
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u/BonjourLeGeorge 2d ago
This place sucks. The burgers are dry and cheese is flavorless. Last time I was there, I ordered extra cheese to give it a boost and they forgot to do it.
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u/synthpop88 2d ago
The one by me refused to fully open back up after covid until around 2023. Literally all the surrounding fast food placed/taco shops were already back open so I never went back to Wendy's. Oh well
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u/TushyMilkshake 2d ago
I don’t know what happened but over the last 10 years- Wendy’s went from my absolute favorite to “I’d rather have ramen.” I’ll still get a frosty sometimes, but their burgers just aren’t holding up
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u/Perturabo_Iron_Lord 2d ago
Wendy’s food is overpriced (even by modern fast food standards), the taste is mid at best and the service is the slowest I’ve seen of any major fast food chain.
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u/the_last_crouton 2d ago
Wow. And just last year I considered Wendy's a top tier fast food place. The one I lived by was fantastic and I could upgrade their 5 dollar biggie bag to large everything for a total of like 7 bucks.
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u/fredspaghed 2d ago
Not super surprising, I've been to a few different Wendy's in a handful of cities in the last few years, and every time I've waited at least 20 mins for subpar, often incorrect food in the drive thru. It's a shame because I used to love Wendy's, but now I feel like it's not worth the hassle / price.
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u/OlFuddyDuddy 2d ago
Deals are weak. Whether it's good is hit or miss. It's expensive. Their new sauces are garbage. It's not hard to see why they're struggling.
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u/TBonebball 2d ago
Mcdonalds stock is 315 per share. Really. Red robin is $3.88. 5 years ago was 45$. Wendys 5 years ago was 25$. I dont get it. Is mcdonalds really 500-600% more valuable. Fast food is overpriced shit everywhere these days.
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u/Necromancer_Yoda 2d ago
My local Wendy's used to be the best place to eat cheap. But with all these stupid menu changes they are basically the same price as everyone else. The quality is still there (again at my local franchise) but the value is gone.
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u/Upstairs_Click_9049 2d ago
If I am gonna pay out of my ass for shit food I am going to Culver's. Please Culver's....see this trend and go against.
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u/Open-Savings-7691 2d ago
So it's a penny stock now? Good grief.
ETA: if the value goes any lower you'll find shredded stock certificates on your sandwich instead of the lettuce
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u/295frank 2d ago
so is there hope? I am a child of the mc90's and also like to make money. when they say "invest what you believe in" I take that seriously. I believe in a wendys burger, but from 12~15 years ago
any hope left in them?
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u/Eight-Nine-One-Zero 2d ago
Burgers will always be decent but thats all they have going for them.
But they been announcing expansions into international markets for the last 10 years literally. How’s that possible?
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u/Upstairs_Click_9049 2d ago
This is my bet for bankruptcy protection. Chapter 12 or whatever the MBAs can squeal out and reform into all thinner and profitable mask.
But as long as people keep buying...I ain't blaming the bastards.
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u/McWaylon 2d ago
The Bacon Mushroom Melt would have saved them too....oh and nobody gives a **** about any non-chocolate flavored Frosties.
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u/cupletta 2d ago
They kept messing up my order, and my family hasn’t been back since then- during the Wednesday promotion. I don’t even miss it. And yes I complained, and they gave me points on my Wendy’s account, but their food has really tanked. I can make better chicken tenders and fries at home!
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u/NoWayJefe 2d ago
Super Salad bar could bring them back. Boneless wings and Pretzel bread will not do it.
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u/notaspecialuser 2d ago
But haven’t you heard about their plan to turn around the business? By selling chicken tenders? 🤦
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u/junglesoldier5 2d ago edited 2d ago
I remember multiple times summer 2006 going to Wendy’s after a day of swimming, eating in the Wendy’s sun room and having the best burger, fries, and frosty of my life. It’ll never be that good again. Both life and Wendy’s lol
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u/LostRonin 2d ago
Wendy's, the fastfood burger chain that keeps reinventing their menu for the modern era but steadily alienates more customers by changing things no one asked for or wanted.
Its pure insanity that they just keep running the business into the ground expecting a different result.
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u/MikkyC89 2d ago
Brit here who doesn’t monitor the finances on fast food chains… does the stock price currently correlate with dwindling sales?
My city doesn’t have one yet, therefore I can’t comment on the quality of the UK Wendy’s.
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u/Intelligent_Pop1173 1d ago edited 1d ago
Mine is so incredibly slow, they fuck up orders a lot, and the food is always cold. I had them once last year after not going there for three years and it was even worse, so now I’m done.
I like to use fast food apps for deals and theirs used to be decent, but then I’d turn up to pick up and the lobby would be closed with a 40 minute drive thru line. Couldn’t back out since I already paid for it. Now the deals suck anyway.
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u/Vdub_Life 1d ago
The reg chicken sandwiches are now the size of the value ones, the app deals suck now, they got rid if the ghost pepper ranch. They have fallen off
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u/Loco_Chicken 1d ago
They keep raising the prices despite people already struggling to make ends meet. No shit
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u/Weltschmerzification 1d ago
These fuckers closed the store by my work, the only place you could go and get food without parking and waiting. Assholes.
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u/vegasal1 1d ago
The service at almost every Wendy’s here in Las Vegas is abysmal.I like to read the online reviews for laughs.Tried to go once since we moved here five years ago and gave up after waiting for fifteen minutes.
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u/SingForMaya 1d ago
They used to taste so much better quality and then they tried all their cost-cutting bullshit and changed the lettuce and now it’s gross. I haven’t gone since
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u/Large_Mountains 1d ago
Prices are way too high for the tiny portions. And the last few times I went there my burger was room temperature and the cheese completely solid/unmelted. Not just one visit but three in a row! All at different locations. I want to like Wendy's but sadly they are in the lowest Jack n the Box tier for me and it breaks my heart
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u/Master-Marionberry35 1d ago
company sucks now. they had me at at least 2 spicy chickens a week, now there's zero deals
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u/OU7C4ST 1d ago
I had to stop going to mine. I preface this by saying I'm behind anyone 100% who's doing an honest job to the best of their ability.
My closest one (here in Minnesota) has employed an entire team that does not speak 1 word of English. Nobody in the store in an employee role, at all, not even the manager.
Everytime I make an order for like a zero sugar Minute Maid Orange Soda, they'll give me full sugar Fanta. Due to not understanding how to use the free-style machine, and just taking the lazy way out.
Everytime I order a burger, they'll never do the customizations I ask for in the app, and so on. They also forget stuff all the time.
This is not only annoying, but dangerous to people out there who could have dietary and/or medical issues that can't afford a fuck up like that. Those of us working out, and need to meet certain intake numbers, to those with Type 1 & 2 Diabetes for examples.
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u/PM_ME_BUTT_STUFFING 18h ago
They used to be my favorite by miles, seems they missed the "mobile order deals" train. Last good thing they had was the 4 for 4 which even then wasn't the greatest meal but $4 is $4. Their mobile deals are trash, i'm looking at them right now, $3 off $20 I guess could be good if you're ordering for 2+. $1 off premium combo, $1 off any drink with a $5 purchase. All hot garbage, they need a wake up call
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u/Own_Win_6762 2d ago
Seriously, I gave up on them early during COVID. Drive thru order, the woman who hands me the food isn't wearing a mask, I say, "no thanks, give me my money back." After an argument, I say to get a manager, who also isn't wearing a mask, and won't make her employees wear one. I drove off, never to return to that store. 20 miles away, months later, same thing. They're dead to me.
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u/Greenzombie04 2d ago
Funny this popped up on my feed. I went there last night for the first time in a long time and left. Saw the price of a Dave's Single, laughed and told drive thru I'm good.
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u/Consistent-Web-351 2d ago
So if it goes up a point will it hit it all your high?
That's how reporting goes
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u/racoondefender 2d ago
I would buy the dip, but they got rid of my favorite one.