Today Wendy’s announced that it will be scaling back on its breakfast-serving locations. My first question on reading that was: Who ever eats at Wendy’s for breakfast anyway? I can’t recall a single time that I ever have, though I have eaten at Burger King (a forced stop, might I add) and McDonalds (I’d like a steak, egg and cheese bagel sandwich please) in the morning. But never a Wendy’s. Perhaps that’s just because they were never convenient, but it’s beside the point regardless.
The bigger question is this: What will be next? Will Wendy’s be forced to change their slogan from “Eat Great, Even Late” to “Sorry Bub; We’re Closed?” Or how about Taco Bell’s 4th Meal? Will we be forever relegated to a mere three meals a day?
Oh the horror!
The Real Deal Is No Reason To Panic
Biting sarcasm aside - and just for the record, I’m just as fond of Taco Bell as the next girl, but honestly, do we need it four times a day? Or a week for that matter? - this is just another sign that we’re in a recession, which we already knew. The news, while less than wonderful for Wendy’s, isn’t really anything different from the other companies who have announced losses and restructuring plans.
Unlike Starbucks and Circuit City, it hasn’t had to close 100+ stores. It’s simply having to deal with the changing times in a responsible, logical way.
In fact, the store plans on growing… albeit over the next 2-3 years. But according to Roland Smith, president and CEO of Wendy’s/Arby’s (NYSE: WEN), this is just a temporary setback for the company.
A New Menu To Wake Up To
The fast food chain will first cut down on its stores offering breakfast from 850 to a maximum of 475. Then, it plans to revamp its breakfast menu and target the changes to Pittsburgh, Kansas City and Phoenix this year. Depending on how those markets react, Smith says he hopes to go national with it in 2011.
We could of course criticize Wendy’s since it laid out an expansion plan back in 2007, but it wouldn’t do us much good, especially since investors liked the new plan. Today, Wendy’s/Arby’s shares took on an extra 19 cents in trading earlier today. And as of now, it’s still holding onto gains.
So in conclusion, despite the loss of Maple Baked Frescuit (apparently one of Wendy’s breakfast items), don’t panic too much. I don’t think we’ll be saying goodbye to a certain redhead in pigtails or her chocolate frosty dairy desserts anytime soon.
