Wendy’s shrinks size of its stores due to tough trading conditions; Financial services group suing Whirlpool over negative review: Midday roundup

Popular ice cream and hot dog chain Wendy’s will shrink the size of new stores by more than half in response to high rent and a flat market, reports Fairfax.

“We want to get sustainable economics into the shopping centre environment,” chief executive Rob McKay told Fairfax. “One of the concepts we refer to is affordable traffic.”

Three new stores, which are between 10-12 sqm in size when the traditional Wendy’s format is around 24 square metres, are trading solidly according to McKay.

The company is also planning to open “microstores” of just four square metres in service stations across Australia. The “microstores” will offer a simple menu, including basic hotdogs, milkshakes and soft-serve ice creams.

Financial services group suing Whirlpool over a negative comment

A financial services group licenced through the National Australia Bank is suing an online forum for refusing to remove a negative post about its services, reports Fairfax.

Essendon-based WCS Group has initiated action against Australian website Whirlpool, saying the post in question was fake and damaged its reputation with potential clients.

According to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, websites that do not remove a post or review they know if fake or misleading can face a maximum penalty of $1.1 million.

Shares up on open

The S&P/ASX200 Benchmark was up 15.9 points to 5564.4 points at 12:03am AEST. On Thursday, the Dow Jones closed up 0.37%, rising 61.78 points to 16,713.58 points.