Dossier
changing customer preferences
Coverage of changing customer preferences in the Nexus archive.
- Chain restaurants are closing hundreds of locations across the US in 2026. See the list.
Several US restaurant chains, including Wendy's and Pizza Hut, plan to close hundreds of locations in 2026 due to challenges like inflation, rising labor costs, and shifting customer preferences. Wendy's aims to close 5-6% of its US locations (298-358 restaurants) in the first half of 2026, while Pizza Hut plans to shutter 250 US locations during the same period.