Wichita lost a Wendy’s restaurant last week. Here’s the explanation:
Wendy’s fans over the weekend noticed that Wichita was down a restaurant: the location at Kellogg and Dugan, which has been operating since the mid 1980s.
On Monday, the Wendy’s media relations team responded to a message left with the marketing department at Cotti Foods, the California-based restaurant group that is the franchisee for Wichita’s Wendy’s restaurants.
“We can confirm this restaurant closed on March 24 as part of Wendy’s U.S. turnaround plan, Project Fresh, which includes system optimization as a key pillar to ensure we have the right restaurant footprint in each market,” the message said. “These actions are focused on strengthening restaurant performance across the Wendy’s System, enhancing the customer experience and positioning the brand for sustainable, long‑term growth.”
The Wendy’s website no longer lists the Kellogg and Dugan restaurant, whose address was 6404 W. Kellogg. Now, Wichita has 12 Wendy’s restaurant. The closest ones to Kellogg and Dugan are at 601 N. West St. and 8853 W. Central.
During an earnings call in February, the chain’s CEO announced that it would be closing 5 to 6 percent of its nearly 6,000 restaurants across the country as part of Project Fresh. That’s the equivalent of more than 350 restaurants.
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The closings, the chain said at the time, were in response to a 5.5% drop in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2025.
During the last several years, Cotti Foods has been tearing down and rebuilding Wendy’s restaurants across Wichita. Among the addresses that were rebuilt were 3601 E. Harry, 601 N. West St., 160 S. Rock Road and 555 S. Broadway.
For some time, the dining room at the now-closed Wendy’s at Kellogg and Dugan has been shut down, and customers were instructed to use the drive through.
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