{"id":151225,"date":"2026-01-27T07:05:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T07:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/151225\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T07:05:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T07:05:11","slug":"jem-management-closes-central-valley-wendys-kfc-locations-amid-industry-shakeout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/151225\/","title":{"rendered":"JEM Management closes Central Valley Wendy&#8217;s, KFC Locations amid industry shakeout"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1140\" height=\"484\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/wendys-west-fresno.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"a sign\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"  \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"attach_desc\">The Wendy&#8217;s location in West Fresno closed in December as part of a larger consolidation of franchise restaurants. Photo by Gabriel Dillard<\/p>\n<p>Longtime Fresno-based franchise operator JEM Management is closing Wendy\u2019s and KFC locations across the Central Valley, part of a broader contraction sweeping the fast-food industry as companies consolidate underperforming stores.<\/p>\n<p>The Wendy\u2019s Co. announced in a November 2025 earnings call that it expects U.S. closures in the \u201cmid-single-digit percentage\u201d \u2014 meaning between 3% and 7% of locations \u2014 as part of its turnaround strategy. With approximately 6,000 U.S. Wendy\u2019s restaurants, that translates to between 180 and 420 potential closures, on top of nearly 200 U.S. locations already shuttered in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Those closures are bearing out locally. The Wendy\u2019s location in Selma closed last week, following the December closure of a Fresno location at 1140 C St., west of Highway 99 near downtown. A Visalia location at 2125 N. Dinuba Blvd. also recently closed.<\/p>\n<p>A message left for JEM Management regarding the closures was not returned Monday morning.<\/p>\n<p>JEM Management currently operates 14 Wendy\u2019s locations across the Central Valley: eight in the Fresno-Clovis area, four in Tulare County, one in Hanford and one in Madera.<\/p>\n<p>The company has deep roots in the region\u2019s fast-food landscape. Founder Joe Desmond established JEM Management in 1964, but his restaurant career began even earlier when he opened Uncle John\u2019s Pancake House in Fresno in 1959. It was there he met Colonel Harland Sanders and struck a deal to become one of the first 10 KFC franchisees, paying Sanders a nickel per piece of chicken sold at Uncle John\u2019s Pancake House, according to the company\u2019s website.<\/p>\n<p>But the legacy brand now operates in a different kind of retail environment. In the face of challenges, JEM Management has also been closing KFC locations \u2014 three in Fresno in 2025, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fresnobee.com\/news\/local\/article312663501.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">according to an October Fresno Bee report<\/a>. The company currently operates about 20 KFC locations in the Central Valley.<\/p>\n<p>The closures reflect mounting pressure on California\u2019s franchise restaurant operators. The state\u2019s $20-per-hour minimum wage for fast-food workers, which took effect in April 2024, significantly squeezed already-thin profit margins. Combined with commercial rents, rising food and utility costs and changing consumer habits, many operators are consolidating their portfolios.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, some operators are also exploring technology investments \u2014 like kiosks and mobile ordering \u2014 to offset labor costs.<\/p>\n<p>In a recent earnings call, Wendy\u2019s interim CEO Ken Cook framed the broader consolidation as necessary pain. \u201cThese actions will strengthen the system and enable franchisees to invest more capital and resources in their remaining restaurants,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Wendy&#8217;s location in West Fresno closed in December as part of a larger consolidation of franchise restaurants.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151226,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113,74749],"class_list":{"0":"post-151225","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fresno","8":"tag-fresno","9":"tag-fresno-headlines","10":"tag-fresno-news","11":"tag-wendys"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151225\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}