Wendy's Bites Dust in Pioneer Valley ...

13 Stores Close. Employees out in the cold:
http://www.masslive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news-2/1185355950128810.xml&coll=1
... hopefully the link will work w/o registration. If not, I'll find a different one. (Ignore print prompt ... I'm trying to get it on one page.

Sounds pretty sleazy. The tax liens, although individually pretty small, are likely to discourage anyone from rescuing the franchise. I'm surprised there weren't 13 accidental fires. (I mean, c'mon, it happens all the time, right? )

Same thing happened to Wendy;s in St. Louis as well. For a FF chain, I think they make a decent burger.

I first heard of the Wendy's problem on WAMC Northeast Public Radio, but they did not go into detail as Gregg's link did. The question is why wasn't the owner of these 13 franchises paying taxes? It makes no sense.

Was the owner charging the consumer for the taxes but pocketing the money? Has Wendy's got so bad that people just don't eat there? This is just one franchise owner but it should put the entire chain on alert.

I am sure details will come out over time. I have a theory about it all which I posted under the heading Wendy's, Just Don't Bother. I know I don't bother with them and this just makes me think I an not alone.

Pioneer Valley, Alaska?

Pioneer Valley, Arkansas?

Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts?

I believe its the Pioneer Valley in Western MA. Note that the dateline is Chicopee which is in MA.

My take on it was it has an outfit that wasn't cut out to do this. Their good intentions made them try until the last minute.

Assuming they weren't pocketing the employees ($200 a week) paycheck money, they simply went bankrupt.

It happens.

If anyone has ever had a business that was failing, I think they'd have a feel for how things can turn -- and how perseverance is the only option sometimes.

It is, I am sure, a tragedy for everyone.

Word is Wendy's International is coughing up the dough for employees last paychecks. The franchisee is disenfranchised.

Unfortunately, Wendys International has been asking for trouble for a long time now. The only reason I ever went to Wendy's in the past 10 years was for the salad bar. Their chili recipe change was bad enough, but when the salad bar dissapeared, so did I. The e. coli scare with the JITB did not help either. After that episode, the burgers went south, also.