Wendy’s tapped its former executive to helm the chain. | Photo courtesy of Wendy’s
Bob Wright was named CEO of the sandwich chain Potbelly in July 2020, after spending several years with Wendy’s.
He was not joining a particularly strong restaurant brand at a particularly good moment. This was the pandemic, after all, and Potbelly had been something of a problem. It went public in 2013. Investors decided this regional sandwich chain was going to be the next Chipotle and its price exploded.
And then Potbelly began reporting actual results and they realized that no, this was not the one.
The sandwich chain at one point before the pandemic reported 11 straight quarters of same-store sales declines. Average unit volumes, which had peaked at $1.1 million in 2012, stagnated and then declined, falling to $940,000 by 2019.
All Wright did was fix it. Once the company recovered from the pandemic, same-store sales grew all but one quarter under Wright’s watch. Average unit volumes grew 39% from 2021 to 2025, to nearly $1.4 million. System sales grew 42%. The company was taken private by the convenience store chain RaceTrac.
Wright will now get another chance at a turnaround, and this one is a doozy: Wendy’s.
The fast-food chain brought its former executive back to effectively rescue the brand. This one makes so much sense it’s frustrating that we didn’t think of it earlier. Wright is a no-brainer. He has experience with Wendy’s. He knows the brand and its culture. And he established a clear track record with Potbelly. This is a clear example of someone who deserves the opportunity.
The Wendy’s Franchise Association, a group that represents 80% of the chain’s restaurants, applauded the move in a statement, saying that the transition is “a meaningful opportunity to reinforce Wendy’s strong culture and built on its legacy of franchise-driven operational excellence.”
Wendy’s will not be an easy fix. The brand has been closing locations for the past two years in programmatic fashion to improve operator finances. It has also been without a permanent CEO since last July, a long, long time for any company to go with a question mark in the chief executive’s chair.
The company’s sales have completely tanked in manners that are almost inconceivable, the result of little or no late-year marketing, poor operations and franchisees eliminating breakfast.
On a two-year stacked basis, same-store sales have declined each of the past five quarters, weakening from a decline of 2.2% in the first quarter of 2025 to a 10.6% two-year decline in the first quarter. Indeed, on a two-year basis, Wendy’s same-store sales decelerated in the first period. They did not improve.
Tanner’s tenure at Wendy’s was an almost unbelievable disaster based on those numbers alone.
The burger space is entirely too competitive. A couple of years ago, Wendy’s was the envy of the sector, with an emerging breakfast daypart, momentum in international markets and the industry’s best voice on social media. It is now going to fall behind Burger King, a brand with decades of problems that just a couple of years ago watched large numbers of huge franchisees file for bankruptcy and shutter locations.
Franchisees, many of whom paid large sums to buy Wendy’s units several years ago, have been paying the price for this. And they clearly recognize what needs to be done. “We look forward to working alongside Bob and the Wendy’s leadership team to help return Wendy’s to the top tier of quick-service restaurants,” Chris Lane, chair of the WFA, said in a statement.
“That begins with delivering on the fundamentals that have always defined Wendy’s: Fresh, never-frozen beef, made-to-order food prepared with quality ingredients, and an unwavering focus on exceeding guest expectations.”
Wendy’s was founded based on quality principles. But it is now in a market loaded with tough competitors, like Culver’s and Whataburger, In-N-Out and Shake Shack. It—and every other fast-food chain, for that matter—cannot afford to lose sight of what made it great in the first place.
Wright, for his part, recognized the importance of the moment and used the name of Wendy’s famous founder in calling this a “pivotal moment” for the brand. “Since Dave Thomas founded the company, a commitment to quality has been at the heart of how we serve our customers and operate our restaurants.”
Wendy’s will need that focus if Wright is going to do this again. But he has the ability to do it.
