Hendersonville's Wendy's at 168 E. Main St. may feel the ripple effects after one of the chain's largest franchise operators filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sept. 17.

Meritage Hospitality Group, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, operates 314 Wendy's restaurants across 15 states and employs about 9,000 people, according to Sumner County Source. The company runs 24 Wendy's locations in Tennessee, the fifth-highest count among its 15 states, the Commercial Appeal reported. Publicly available information does not identify which franchisee operates the Hendersonville location.

Meritage filed voluntarily in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Michigan. The company said it expects restaurants to stay open during the restructuring and plans to keep paying employee wages and benefits, subject to court approval. Meritage also asked the court for permission to continue honoring Wendy's gift cards and loyalty programs, according to the Commercial Appeal.

Meritage said in a press release that its restaurants will continue serving customers daily throughout the process.

The filing follows steep financial losses. Revenue fell 7.6% to $618 million in 2025 and dropped another 14% during the first half of 2026, according to Restaurant Dive. An $8 million net income in 2024 flipped to a nearly $32 million net loss in 2025. Kevin Cleary, the company's chief restructuring officer, cited declining same-store sales across the Wendy's system in a first-day court motion.

Meritage blamed several factors in court documents: an 11.3% drop in same-store sales during the final quarter of 2025, record U.S. beef prices driven by low herd levels and tariffs on imported beef, and La Niña winter weather that hurt sales in the South.

Earlier in 2026, Meritage closed 60 Wendy's locations to cut costs. Accounts differ on what comes next. Sumner County Source reported Tuesday, Oct. 13, that Meritage had not announced additional closures tied to the bankruptcy. But Restaurant Business Online, also reporting Tuesday, Oct. 13, said Meritage closed 10 more locations the prior week as part of a plan to shutter 41 of its remaining 314 restaurants.

The company said in court documents it plans to weigh options including closing or selling underperforming locations, according to the Commercial Appeal.

Meritage is a franchisee, not the parent company. The Wendy's Company, which owns the brand, has not filed for bankruptcy. A Wendy's corporate spokesperson told WKRN that the company is working with franchisees "on a case-by-case basis to identify the best and most sustainable path forward."

Court filings estimate Meritage's assets and liabilities each between $10 million and $50 million. Wendy's franchising arm, Quality Is Our Recipe LLC, is listed as the largest unsecured creditor with a claim of about $24.9 million in deferred franchise fees, according to Law Commentary.