Two Yakima Wendy's Restaurants suddenly close
YAKIMA, Wash. -- People looking for a quick burger in Yakima found a couple of restaurants out to lunch. Both Wendy's locations in Yakima abruptly closed their doors this week.
A lot of people are wondering why it happened so fast without notice. One by one dozens of cars drove in and out of Wendy's drive thru.
Most were surprised to find the burger joints on North and South First street are closed.
Betty Alsup regularly goes to the Wendy's near the Union Gap Mall. After finding out it was closed, she drove to the other location to find out it closed, too.
"I mean it was open, everything was fine, nobody said anything," said Betty Alsup, a Wendy's regular.
Another customer, Stevel Bannelo, said he had no idea the restaurant was closing.
Wendy's Corporate Office said the owner decided to close the restaurants on his own but could not provide any more details.
If you pull up to your local Wendy's you'll see that the restaurants are closed. One store said they're closed for maintenance while another store in Yakima says they're closed for mechanical problems.
Customers aren't the only ones surprised. KIMA met with Yakima Chamber of Commerce President Verlynn Best to discuss the closings.
"Well, it always breaks my heart because ya' know people need their jobs and we need jobs in this community because we do have a high unemployment rate and this is a real shock," Best said.
KIMA reached out to two Wendy's employees. Neither returned our calls. If the stores remain closed, they will be out of a job.
A local employment expert said there has been a rise in food service jobs recently. However, losing two businesses will hurt that trend.
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