One of Wendy's largest franchise operators, Meritage, has sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week — a quiet but consequential signal that the economics sustaining the fast-food franchise model are under serious strain. Spanning hundreds of locations across fifteen states, Meritage's voluntary filing is not an ending but a reckoning: a business choosing to restructure rather than collapse, betting that its obligations can be reshaped before they become fatal. The move invites a larger question about whether this is one company's misfortune or the first visible fracture in a system tha