Companies That You Expect to Disappear Soon

[WesternLancer]

I have one of the remaining Wimpy Bars, where I live. It had flags and posters out, for a special offer, this afternoon. There appeared to be a number of people going inside for lunch.

There was another one, a few miles away. That announced it was closing, due to the retirement of the Franchise holder. I wonder if Wimpy will just fade away, rather than abruptly cease trading.

Remarkable. I thought they had all closed a while ago!

 

[jon0844]

Remarkable. I thought they had all closed a while ago!

A lot have been refurbished and are going strong. Given how expensive McDonald's has become, and BK is also at a premium (unless you use vouchers/deals in the app), Wimpy has sort of become affordable in comparison - and you can eat in and eat with real plates and cutlery.

I grew up with one in my home town that was run by the same family for generations and they had their store refurbished before they retired. It's still going now, possibly helped by the fact there's no BK or McDonald's (or any other direct rival) nearby.

 

[Harpo]

Remarkable. I thought they had all closed a while ago!

I tripped across a Wimpy in Shrewsbury on a visit there last year.

 

[WesternLancer]

A lot have been refurbished and are going strong. Given how expensive McDonald's has become, and BK is also at a premium (unless you use vouchers/deals in the app), Wimpy has sort of become affordable in comparison - and you can eat in and eat with real plates and cutlery.

I grew up with one in my home town that was run by the same family for generations and they had their store refurbished before they retired. It's still going now, possibly helped by the fact there's no BK or McDonald's (or any other direct rival) nearby.

To my mind Wimpy always had that sense of a US inspired burger operation that had been translated into a UK style concept from the start. By virtue of the real crockery and table service iirc.

That impresses me in a positive kind of way.

 

[Gloster]

To my mind Wimpy always had that sense of a US inspired burger operation that had been translated into a UK style concept from the start. By virtue of the real crockery and table service iirc.

That impresses me in a positive kind of way.

It started in the US in 1934 and peaked in 1947 with 26 outlets, but the last six closed in 1977, the year before it reached its world peak with 1500 outlets. It was franchised in the UK by Lyons from 1954 and reached several hundred outlets; in January 2025 there were 61 left. After several changes of ownership it is now South African owned, that country having by far the most outlets (451 in February 2025). A somewhat odd transfer of ownership in the opposite direction to normal across the Atlantic. I wonder if many who use Wimpys nowadays either have a lack of choice or it is a nostalgia jag.

I always wanted to go to the Wimpy in Guildford, but I don’t think I ever did as my mother preferred the coffee shop at the top of the High Street. Usually a tiny little cake, although just occasionally I was allowed Welsh Rarebit.

Source: Wikipedia.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Apropos burger chains I thought had closed decades ago, I came across a Wendy's a few weeks ago. Turns out there 40ish of them still going in the UK

 

[dgl]

Apropos burger chains I thought had closed decades ago, I came across a Wendy's a few weeks ago. Turns out there 40ish of them still going in the UK

Not still going, as such, but a whole new operation after leaving the UK years ago.

 

[Tramfan]

Apropos burger chains I thought had closed decades ago, I came across a Wendy's a few weeks ago. Turns out there 40ish of them still going in the UK

We just had one open in Newcastle fairly recently - I'd never heard of the chain prior to that

 

[Brightonboy]

Remarkable. I thought they had all closed a while ago!

We had a Wimpy in the main shopping street of our small town that closed a few years back and became an independent restaurant in a very 'Wimpy-esque' style. That then closed after a couple of years and after a dormant period it reopened as a Wimpy again. It always seems to be doing a healthy business when I walk past.

 

[WesternLancer]

It started in the US in 1934 and peaked in 1947 with 26 outlets, but the last six closed in 1977, the year before it reached its world peak with 1500 outlets. It was franchised in the UK by Lyons from 1954 and reached several hundred outlets; in January 2025 there were 61 left. After several changes of ownership it is now South African owned, that country having by far the most outlets (451 in February 2025). A somewhat odd transfer of ownership in the opposite direction to normal across the Atlantic. I wonder if many who use Wimpys nowadays either have a lack of choice or it is a nostalgia jag.

I always wanted to go to the Wimpy in Guildford, but I don’t think I ever did as my mother preferred the coffee shop at the top of the High Street. Usually a tiny little cake, although just occasionally I was allowed Welsh Rarebit.

Source: Wikipedia.

Thanks for this.
That explains why many Wimpy restaurants seemed to be in premises that had previously been Lyon’s Corner Houses.
If you look at old pictures of towns you know this can sometimes be easily seen.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Although their “travel” outlets - stations, airports and m-way services- have for years seemed to me less shoddy and unloved than the high street stores I know.

As @35B also points out, there is a reason why WH Smith kept the travel and hospital locations and sold on the high street business.

There’s also a reason why they put a covenant on the sale which means Modella have to keep the high street locations open for a minimum period of time.

The problems with Claire's seemed to be that you got poorer quality jewelery, that wasn't all that cheap, that you can now just get online from places like Temu even cheaper

This is part of the issue: the bottom of the market used make their margin by reselling cheap Chinese crap, but the purveyors of cheap Chinese crap have decided to cut out the middleman.

But the other part of the issue is asset stripping private equity. They’re not on the hook of the business fails, the taxpayer is. Start making the private equity guys personally liable for redundancy payments (rather than the National Insurance fund) and we’ll see a different attitude.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Apr 2026 ==

That impresses me in a positive kind of way.

I’m not sure if it’s still there- I hope it is- but the Wimpy in Upminster was always a really nice place to get lunch.

 

[Bald Rick]

wanted to go to the Wimpy in Guildford, but I don’t think I ever did as my mother preferred the coffee shop at the top of the High Street. Usually a tiny little cake, although just occasionally I was allowed Welsh Rarebit.

That coffee shop used to smell amazing - they had a rotary roaster going all times of day!

 

[_toommm_]

A lot have been refurbished and are going strong. Given how expensive McDonald's has become, and BK is also at a premium (unless you use vouchers/deals in the app), Wimpy has sort of become affordable in comparison - and you can eat in and eat with real plates and cutlery.

I grew up with one in my home town that was run by the same family for generations and they had their store refurbished before they retired. It's still going now, possibly helped by the fact there's no BK or McDonald's (or any other direct rival) nearby.

The one just down the road from me proudly advertises a 'Double Original Quarter Pounder Cheese Meal' for a whopping £16.05. Ridiculous prices!

 

[jon0844]

The one just down the road from me proudly advertises a 'Double Original Quarter Pounder Cheese Meal' for a whopping £16.05. Ridiculous prices!

That's not cheap, but a half pounder (if I'm reading the above correctly) will be expensive in a lot of places - especially restaurants or pubs that might be more comparable than McDonald's or BK on account of you having table service, plates, cutlery etc.

I don't know if Wimpy has an app and offers deals or other incentives, but these days I'm quite picky and check out deals before making a purchase. Walk up prices (see what I did there?!) are quite insane for a lot of places today. I honestly can't remember the last time I paid for something like a Whopper meal or Big Mac without a discount. In the case of Burger King, most deals don't exist on weekends so I don't go on weekends.

 

[Ashley Hill]

Growing up Wimpey was my burger bar of choice. Cheeseburger & chips with a lime milkshake. IIRC the grated onion was raw which I still prefer in burgers today and no gherkin lurking on top like McDonalds.

 

[The exile]

I’m not sure if it’s still there- I hope it is- but the Wimpy in Upminster was always a really nice place to get lunch.

It’s still on their online list of locations - this thread prompted me to check them last night. Unfortunately, with the exception of Barnstaple this part of the world appears to be a Wimpy desert.

 

[35B]

It’s still on their online list of locations - this thread prompted me to check them last night. Unfortunately, with the exception of Barnstaple this part of the world appears to be a Wimpy desert.

Poor Barnstaple!

 

[Harpo]

It’s still on their online list of locations - this thread prompted me to check them last night. Unfortunately, with the exception of Barnstaple this part of the world appears to be a Wimpy desert.

‘Diary Of A Wimpy Barnstaple’?

 

[Tetchytyke]

The one just down the road from me proudly advertises a 'Double Original Quarter Pounder Cheese Meal' for a whopping £16.05. Ridiculous prices!

At my local McDonald’s a large double quarter pounder with cheese meal is about £11.50. Nowhere is cheap now.

Order a similar burger at somewhere like Five Guys and you won’t get much change out of £25.

 

[duffield]

Brings back memories of when I used to walk through the Broadmarsh shopping centre in Nottingham on my way to work, passing the Wimpy on the upper level. First the Wimpy went, then later the entire shopping centre went away! It was supposed to be replaced by a super-sized new shopping centre and leisure facility (the "Broadmarsh 2000" project) but that failed and has been/is being replaced by alternative uses. The footfall of Nottingham's shopping area has shifted decisively North as a result, leaving the Southern part struggling with vacant units.

 

[Tetragon213]

It'll be interesting to see if Wimpy can entrench themselves further in the market, against a declining-in-quality, but still highly numerous McDonalds.

 

[jon81uk]

The one just down the road from me proudly advertises a 'Double Original Quarter Pounder Cheese Meal' for a whopping £16.05. Ridiculous prices!

That seems a fair price for a half-pound burger with chips. A little more than McDonalds but you get waited service. Around £12-20 for a main course with waited service is about the going rate now in most places. Even fast food is about £10 a meal (although that usually includes a soft drink in it).

 

[Tetragon213]

That seems a fair price for a half-pound burger with chips. A little more than McDonalds but you get waited service. Around £12-20 for a main course with waited service is about the going rate now in most places. Even fast food is about £10 a meal (although that usually includes a soft drink in it).

The most annoying thing about "fast" food e.g. McDonalds is that it ain't fast anymore, nor is it cheap.

Wimpy, while it costs more, at least offers waited service and crockery, while not attracting a clientele which strongly stinks of certain green psychoactive substances. Also, the scourge of UberEats etc hasn't (yet) arrived at Wimpy, though watch this space...

 

[Harpo]

The most annoying thing about "fast" food e.g. McDonalds is that it ain't fast anymore, nor is it cheap.

Ditto various coffee chains where the circa £4 coffee and circa £4 cake seem to be a new norm. I do wonder if their bubble might burst as discretional spend diminishes?

 

[WesternLancer]

Ditto various coffee chains where the circa £4 coffee and circa £4 cake seem to be a new norm. I do wonder if their bubble might burst as discretional spend diminishes?

It surely will. Which will keep this thread busy at some point.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Apr 2026 ==

Brings back memories of when I used to walk through the Broadmarsh shopping centre in Nottingham on my way to work, passing the Wimpy on the upper level. First the Wimpy went, then later the entire shopping centre went away! It was supposed to be replaced by a super-sized new shopping centre and leisure facility (the "Broadmarsh 2000" project) but that failed and has been/is being replaced by alternative uses. The footfall of Nottingham's shopping area has shifted decisively North as a result, leaving the Southern part struggling with vacant units.

Yes indeed. And at one point there was going to be an additional tram stop to be within the newly enlarged broadmarsh shopping centre.

In fact this is why the GCRs perfectly good viaduct was demolished and replaced with an ugly one for the tram to run on so the new stop would be at the correct height for the relevant part / floor of the new shopping centre. And the council paid extra for that not the proposed developer of the centre. Or so I recall it being explained.

Some houses were also demolished to facilitate all this.

None of those involved can have seen the imminent decline of in person retail….

 

[duffield]

If the current Middle East standoff continues much longer the coming inflationary storm will sweep away huge numbers of marginal and optional spend businesses. People will need their money for buying essential food and energy, not things like £8 coffee+cake. I particularly fear for the heritage railways, many of whose finances have never fully recovered from Covid.

 

[Tetragon213]

If the current Middle East standoff continues much longer the coming inflationary storm will sweep away huge numbers of marginal and optional spend businesses. People will need their money for buying essential food and energy, not things like £8 coffee+cake. I particularly fear for the heritage railways, many of whose finances have never fully recovered from Covid.

Indeed. The thread about heritage line viability makes for depressing reading sometimes

How Viable are Preserved Railways?

It came as a bit of a shock to me to read about the Bluebell’s financial difficulties. I had assumed that as one of the big players, and with a significant and prosperous catchment area, the Bluebell would be relatively immune to such pressures. However, if the Bluebell is struggling, how are...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[Strat-tastic]

That seems a fair price for a half-pound burger with chips. A little more than McDonalds but you get waited service. Around £12-20 for a main course with waited service is about the going rate now in most places. Even fast food is about £10 a meal (although that usually includes a soft drink in it).

No, crikey no! It's just a burger.
Someone's laughing all the way to the bank.

 

[jon81uk]

No, crikey no! It's just a burger.
Someone's laughing all the way to the bank.

Who is laughing all the way to the bank?

The biggest fixed cost is the staff, you need at least one waiting and one cooking, plus one washing up. Minimum wage plus National Insurance will be one of the biggest costs. Then there is rent on the unit/building, energy costs, plus the franchising fees. The actual meal you are ordering and the cost of the ingredients is likely the least important part, most of the costs don't change whether you order a single coffee or burger and chips. This is also why coffee shops prices are also increasing significantly, staff costs and energy costs have gone up recently.

 

[Backroom_boy]

Wimpy, while it costs more, at least offers waited service and crockery

Are there two types of wimpy? I've definitely been places where it's counter service only (must admit that was some years back)