Wendy’s in Lower Burrell to close
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The Wendy’s restaurant on Leechburg Road in Lower Burrell will close Oct. 4.
A Wendy’s manager, Brandan Davis, confirmed the closure. Davis said 20 employees will be affected, about half of them full-time workers.
“The Lower Burrell location is a lower-volume store and the cost to remodel it didn’t make sense, especially since we just remodeled a store nearby on Tarentum-Bridge Road in New Kensington,” said Tim Thompson of Columbus, Ohio, who co-owns 76 Wendy’s restaurants in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania, including the Lower Burrell location.
“This is not an indication of any other closures. We have been blessed that the local communities have supported us,” he said. “We have not laid off one person and are hiring new employees, because business is so good.”
Every employee at the Lower Burrell restaurant has been offered an opportunity to work at another Wendy’s, with the same position and same pay rate as they had in Lower Burrell, Thompson said.
Lower Burrell Councilman Chris Fabry said he was disappointed to hear about the closure of the Wendy’s, but was happy to hear that its employees were offered jobs elsewhere.
“It’s still a loss for our city,” he said. “I think the building is in a great location and am hopeful that another restaurant will fill its spot soon.”
Wendy’s was founded in 1969 by Dave Thomas in Columbus, Ohio. Wendy’s and its franchisees employ hundreds of thousands of people across more than 6,700 restaurants worldwide, according to company statements.
Nationally, same-store sales at Wendy’s were down 4.4% for the second quarter that ended June 28, according to Restaurant News.
The company said in a news release that the covid-19 pandemic was responsible, but the losses were offset by the positive impact of Wendy’s new breakfast menu.
At the end of March, Wendy’s decided to offer drive-thru and delivery service as restaurants had been deemed an essential business in many jurisdictions globally, according to a Wendy’s news release. At that time, Wendy’s reported drive-thru business had grown to about 90% of overall sales.
Wendy’s said it expects to continue restaurant and dining room reopenings through a phased approach in accordance with federal, state and local guidance. Dining rooms are reopening at each restaurant owner’s discretion, subject to any pandemic-related restrictions in the areas where they operate.