Wendys Co. plans to open 1,000 new units by the end of 2020, the company said Wednesday, as growing sales and higher profits encourage operators to expand.
The vast majority of those new restaurants will be built by franchisees, as the system continues to shift to a more franchise-heavy model following the sale of 540 U.S. restaurants to franchisees by the middle of next year.
Wendy’s executives said during a conference call Wednesday that they expect to sell 280 units by early in the fourth quarter, and the other 260 locations by mid-2016. The sale of the restaurants is expected to generate as much as $475 million in gross proceeds, or about $900,000 per location. Ultimately, Wendy’s will operate 315 restaurants, or 5 percent of its more than 6,000 units.
