Take a look inside Wendy's tech-focused new-look restaurants. To collect a mobile order you park in a dedicated spot and collect your food from a pickup shelf.

Thu, 08/17/2023 - 07:58

The interior of a Wendy's next gen restaurant — Wendy's

Wendy's has opened its first new-look restaurants that focus on food that's eaten off-site.
The restaurants have dedicated parking and pickup spots for delivery drivers and mobile-order customers.
The design will be used for new restaurants, and some existing restaurants will be refitted.

Quick service restaurant chain Wendy's has opened its first so-called "next gen" restaurants which focus on technology and digital ordering.

The exterior of a Wendy's next gen restaurant — The exterior of the Global Next Gen restaurant in Great Bend, Kansas.
Wendy's

Initially announced last year, the first two restaurants in this format were opened in Great Bend, Kansas in June and in Edmond, Oklahoma in July. Both are operated by franchisees.

Wendy's says that the"digital-first" restaurants feature a "sleek and modern design."

The interior of Wendy's next gen restaurants, showing a digital order kiosk and food pickup — A digital order kiosk at the Global Next Gen restaurant in Edmond, Oklahoma and the seating area and mobile order pickup space at the Global Next Gen restaurant in Great Bend, Kansas.
Wendy's

The chain says that the locations' layout and technology focus on drive-thru, dine-in, and digital order pickup. The restaurants, for example, include self-service kiosks and pickup shelves for mobile orders.

More and more Wendy's customers are ordering using these channels. Digital sales – delivery and online orders – made up more than 11% of all Wendy's US orders and 17% of international orders in the second quarter of 2023, executives said at the company's earnings call earlier in August.

Total digital sales in the quarter grew 25% year-over-year and are expected to reach more than $1.5 billion this year, they said.

Outside, delivery drivers have dedicated parking spaces as well as a pickup window.

There are parking spaces reserved for mobile-order collection customers, too.

By the end of 2024, more than 200 restaurants will be open in this format globally, Wendy's says.

Most of these will be new builds, though some will be refits. The first company-operated location in New Albany, Ohio is currently under construction and is set to open "in the coming months," Wendy's told Insider.

All new Wendy's restaurants planned following the initial release of the design in October 2022 will be in this format, the company said.

Execs previously said that the design costs nearly 10% less to build than its current format and will be cheaper for franchisees to operate, with more efficient lighting, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. Annual energy costs for the new-look restaurants are about 6% lower, Wendy's says.

Especially busy restaurants will also have high-capacity kitchens, which Wendy's says can produce nearly 50% more food.

The kitchen of a Wendy's next gen restaurant — A rendering of a Wendy's Global Next Gen restaurant with a high-capacity kitchen.
Wendy's

Wendy's says the dual-sided kitchens have equipment and layout that maximize productivity, including additional sandwich production areas and dedicated space for digital orders. The front counter, drive-thru, and storage spaces are "strategically placed" so that staff can travel between them faster, Wendy's says.

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Take a look inside Wendy's tech-focused new-look restaurants. To collect a mobi…