# Wendy's closed in all of Western Mass (13 in all)



## tazoez (Dec 9, 2005)

Thirteen Wendy's restaurants in Western Massachusetts, all owned by a single individual, were closed yesterday, leaving employees wondering what will happen next. 
Edward Rafter, a spokesman for Wendy's International at its northeast division office in Westford, said yesterday, "The 13 restaurants in that market are owned by an independent franchisee of Wendy's who has experienced financial difficulties and that's what forced the restaurants to close." 
He did not identify the franchisee, but he said the franchisee closed the restaurants, not Wendy's. Rafter was not sure where the restaurants was located or how many employees worked for the 13 stores. 
The Wendy's restaurant on Park Street in West Springfield was among those that was closed yesterday. It is owned by Robert T. Burda of Dublin, Ohio. 
The Republican has previously reported that Burda owns 13 Wendy's restaurants in the region, and that he has been delinquent in paying property taxes or state meal taxes at the restaurant in West Springfield as well as those on King Street in Northampton, on Boston Road and on Allen Street in Springfield, and on Memorial Drive in Chicopee. The newspaper has also reported that he owns Wendy's restaurants in Ludlow, Palmer and on Southampton Road in Westfield. 
Messages left for Burda at his home in Ohio yesterday were not returned. Outside the closed Wendy's restaurant at 788 Memorial Drive in Chicopee yesterday, across the parking lot from where the offices of the corporation which oversees Burda's restaurants is located, about a dozen Wendy's employees from various communities waited to be paid or to learn if they are still employed. 
"No one has given us a reason for why we closed. People are scared and they're spreading rumors," said Christine M. Bednarski of Chicopee who works at the Wendy's in Ludlow. 
She was told to report to the Chicopee parking lot to receive her paycheck, but after an hour, no one had come out of the corporation office with it, she said. 
The Wendy's restaurant on Route 32, Palmer Road, in Palmer, was closed last night and a sign posted on the front door said "Closed today due to truck delivery." 
At the Memorial Drive office for Burda's corporation, which is listed as XCL Enterprises, LLC, with the state secretary of state's office, a man who would not identify himself said, "I was told to close up and that all I know right now."


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## KozmoKramer (Apr 25, 2004)

13 less places for those in western Mass to get e-Coli.
Good God, I cant understand those who eat that utter crap.

Taz - filthy shit holes right?


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## Macop (May 2, 2002)

Cause it tastes good.


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## SOT (Jul 30, 2004)

Hmmm I wonder if he owns the one in Pittsfield? They can't take credit cards and that's normally because a company owner would have bad credit, or is just trying to do a cash business to hide/get cash that his creditors can not touch.


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## tazoez (Dec 9, 2005)

SOT said:


> Hmmm I wonder if he owns the one in Pittsfield? They can't take credit cards and that's normally because a company owner would have bad credit, or is just trying to do a cash business to hide/get cash that his creditors can not touch.


Yup, he Robert Burda owns them all.



KozmoKramer said:


> 13 less places for those in western Mass to get e-Coli.
> Good God, I cant understand those who eat that utter crap.
> 
> Taz - filthy shit holes right?


Some of them are not bad. I used to work for them (upper level mangement) and I am not suprised to see this happening. I just heard on the news that Wendy's International is trying to work with Burda so that the employee's get paid for the work that they have already done. They (international) are also planning on re-opening them soon.

The best part was that Burda wasn't paying his bills way back when. We couldn't even order new uniforms for new hires because he owed so much. According to higher up's at that time, it was because Burda was getting a divorce and his wife was raking him for all he was worth (he shouldn't have had that affair). International should not have let him expand (6 stores) without checking to see if his finances were in order, though I agree with the building of the new pittsfield store to replace the old one. The old one had mold like crazy in it (always had breathing trouble when I had to fill in that store, we found the mold in the walkin cooler and bleached the hell out of it).

As for cleanliness of the stores now, it isn't like it used to be. If I know the store manager and know how they run the store, I might chance it. I'll never get a Frosty though. When I was working for them, not one of the crew knew how to take apart the machine properly to clean it until I showed them. They would only run soapy water, clean water, then sanitizer through the machine. While the chamber and blades got cleaned, the gaskets didn't nor did the "peg" that spun the blades to mix the Frosty mix.

The salads are nice and healthy though Koz, usually a safe bet for not getting sick at any fast food place.



Wolfman said:


> ...and I thought is was because his Brazilians got deported...


Nah, you have Wendy's confused with Dunkin Donuts. I'll give credit to them that they atleast paid decent wages and had an equal mix of race for the crew.


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## dcs2244 (Jan 29, 2004)

So I show up at Wendy's in NoHo looking for a baked 'tater (broccoli und sleaze) and some of those sicken tenders. Now, I had heard something on the radio about the stores being closed, but I missed the "where" part. There were two kids there who told me that the store was closed...we got to talking and they said they still hadn't been paid...they were there because corporate told them to report for work as they were re-opening that day. I got this all from one guy, as the others story was unintelligible...he was a sikh, blue turban and all...

Taz, I figured I was pretty safe with the baked potato and deep fried stuff...if not, please STFU!

I worked fast food back in 1976...our place was absolutely spotless. Really. But the "five second rule" did obtain....especially when a couple of tour buses showed up! 
</IMG></IMG>


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## USMCTrooper (Oct 23, 2003)

dcs2244 said:


> I worked fast food back in 1876...our place was absolutely spotless.


Isnt that what they called being a "cookie" on a chuck wagon train???


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## tazoez (Dec 9, 2005)

dcs2244 said:


> Taz, I figured I was pretty safe with the baked potato and deep fried stuff...if not, please STFU!
> 
> I worked fast food back in 1976...our place was absolutely spotless. Really. But the "five second rule" did obtain....especially when a couple of tour buses showed up!
> </IMG></IMG>


Yea, that is pretty safe. The potato is washed when taken out of the case and wrapped in foil before it is put in the oven. The fried food is good as long as the oil is filtered everyday and changed once a week. Burgers are safe as long as the grill is cleaned properly -- I used to train people to use soapy water to scrub it clean then dry it then use spray oil to coat the metal to prevent rusting.

I stay away from the grilled chicken sandwich. A buddy of mine (used to work for them and now is MSP) and I have both gotten sick from it. Salads are pretty safe, we only had an issue one year from the lettuce and threw the whole lot away -- those tiny bugs, we noticed them before we even chopped the lettuce.

As for 5 second rule, never applied. If it dropped, it got thrown away. Though the floors were always clean and the grout still a healthy grey. I don't recommend it but we always mixed chemicals to clean the floor -- and yea once it was the accidential bleach/ammonia mix. God my lungs burned when the hot water hit it. LOL... the joys of being an ignorant youth.

*Wendy's owner faces many debts*

Wednesday, July 25, 2007 By MARCIA BLOMBERG
*[email protected]* 
CHICOPEE - The Ohio man who owns 13 area Wendy's restaurants that closed abruptly Friday owes hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes to area towns and the state, and $4.6 million to an out-of-state finance company. 
That does not include wages owed to Robert T. Burda's employees, several of whom say they were not paid last week when the restaurants closed. 
Burda, who owns the restaurants under corporate names including Sondocatt Investments, XCL Enterprises and Burda Enterprises, owes more than $148,800 in water fees, real estate and personal property taxes to some of the cities and towns where his restaurants are located. 
Burda also owes state meals taxes back to 2005, but the exact amount was not available yesterday. A spokesman for the state Department of Revenue said the confidentiality accorded taxpayers prevents the department from giving out that information. 
State tax liens filed this year alone on Burda-owned properties in Hadley, Pittsfield and Chicopee add up to at least $480,000, but Robert R. Bliss, spokesman for the revenue department, said the department expects one of those liens to be paid in full by next week. He said he could not disclose more information. 
Burda also faces a lawsuit by Capmark Finance of California, which loaned him $6.4 million in 1998 to buy five of the restaurants in this area. According to the lawsuit, filed July 2 in U.S. District Court in Springfield, Burda still owes $4.6 million and has not made a payment since April. 
Burda could not be reached for comment yesterday, Monday or Friday. 
Employees of the company have said they've been having trouble getting paid. Last Friday, after the restaurants were abruptly closed, some employees waited for paychecks outside the local office. 
Christine M. Bednarski, of Chicopee, who works at the Wendy's in Ludlow, said that about a month ago she and other employees began to get notices that their paychecks were bouncing. 
Madeline Sostre, of Ludlow, who worked at the Wendy's on Memorial Drive, said she was in the middle of her workday Friday when her manager told her they were closing about 1:30. She began full-time work at the restaurant a month ago, and several of her paychecks have bounced. 
"It's hard, because I'm a mother of three," Sostre said. "I was told I should find another job." 
A spokesman for the state attorney general, who enforces wage laws, could not be reached for comment. 
Dennis Lynch, senior vice president of communications for Wendy's, based in Dublin, Ohio, said the company is "very sensitive to the fact that there are employees of the franchisee who are concerned about pay, and it's one of our top concerns that we are addressing with the franchisee every day." 
While the company wants "to make certain that the employees get paid for the hours that they have worked," Lynch noted franchisees are independent business owners responsible for wages and taxes. 
Lynch said the company does not know how many employees are affected by the closings. Most restaurants average between 20 and 30 employees, though less-busy restaurants can have fewer workers and busy ones can have more, he said. 
The situation "is very fluid," Lynch said Monday. "We're learning and dealing on an almost hourly basis as we gather more information and get more specifics." 
Lynch said the company would like to reopen the restaurants, but must find out who owns the real estate and sort through other legal requirements. 
The company has had Wendy's restaurants in Western Massachusetts for almost 30 years, Lynch said. 
"We've kind of grown fond of our neighbors in Western Massachusetts. We want to stay there, we don't want to leave, and that is the goal - to reopen those restaurants as quickly as we can." 
The state has filed tax liens at area registries of deeds against Burda and corporations he controls for unpaid meal taxes back to July 2005.
A lien filed Feb. 1 shows $177,655 owed by Burda Enterprises LLC on the restaurant at 376 Russell St., Hadley. 
A lien was filed Feb. 5 on Sondocatt Investments, the primary name under which Burda operated his restaurants, for $135,085 owed on its restaurant in Pittsfield. 
Another filed Jan. 30 indicates Sondocatt Investments owed $99,264 in meals taxes for the Wendy's at 786 Memorial Drive in Chicopee.
A lien for $68,009 was filed by the state for unpaid meals taxes on Jan. 30 against Burda Enterprises at 788 Memorial Drive, Chicopee, the address of the administrative office for his string of restaurants. 
Other Wendy's owned by Burda in Springfield, Greenfield, Ludlow and Westfield show no liens, according to a search at area registries. 
Burda holds franchises for four Wendy's in Springfield and one each in Greenfield, Northampton, Chicopee, Hadley, Ludlow, Palmer, Pittsfield, West Springfield and Westfield, Lynch said. 
The Wendy's at the Holyoke Mall is not owned by Sondocatt and is still open, according to an employee there. 
Tax collector offices in the following cities and towns report unpaid taxes and fees on Wendy's in their communities: 
In Palmer, XCL Enterprises, one of Burda's companies, owes $2,436.67 on the Wendy's at 1213 Thorndike St. 
In Westfield, the Wendy's at 6 Southampton Road owes the city $19,987. The property is owned by Oldon Limited Partership, with a billing address of 788 Memorial Drive, Chicopee, the same address as Burda's other enterprises.
In Springfield, the Wendy's restaurants at 757 Boston Road and 1420 Allen St. are both in tax title due to unpaid property taxes in fiscal 2006. XCL Enterprises LLC owes $33,848 on 757 Boston Road. Sondocatt Investments owes $26,911 on 1420 Allen St. 
In Northampton, Sondocatt Investments owes $18,503 in unpaid taxes for the Wendy's Restaurant at 203 King St. 
In Chicopee, the city is owed a total of $20,084 in unpaid real estate and personal property taxes and water and sewer fees for the property at 788 Memorial Drive, owned by Sondocatt Investments.

In West Springfield, Sondocatt Investments owes $6,192 on the Wendy's Restaurant at 288 Park St. 
In Greenfield, Sondocatt Investments owes delinquent real estate, water and sewer and personal property taxes adding up to $15,070. 
In Ludlow, Burda Enterprises has a past due fiscal 2007 property tax bill of $1,382. 
In Hadley, Hadley Maple Corp., with an address in Yonkers, N.Y., has an unpaid tax bill of $4,407, according to the tax collector's office. There was no indication yesterday Burda is involved with that Wendy's, though it is closed.


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## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

One bad time at Wendy's for me,the wife and I both deathly sick from the salad bar
at a Wendy's in RI.
That did it for me no more Wendy's.
That was about 15 years ago.


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## JoninNH (Jan 29, 2004)

Someone point a finger at this guy... or at least his chili.


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