In the over 40 years since Wendy’s began slinging burgers, the fast food chain has never been able to slip past competitor Burger King, which seemed to have a permanent lock on the runner-up slot behind McDonald’s. But the newest numbers indicate that while the Ohio-based burger joint is set to leap-frog BK into the number two spot in total sales, even though it has almost 1,400 fewer stores in the U.S.

According to research firm Technomic (which sounds like a cover corporation for villains from some Timothy Dalton-era James Bond film), Wendy’s U.S. same-store sales are forecast to increase by 1.1%, while Burger King’s U.S. and Canada same-store sales will drop 3.9%. This would give Wendy’s a $53 million edge over the King for the year.

Part of the reason for Wendy’s perkier pigtails is the chain’s recent refocusing on using better ingredients than their competitors, while Burger King hasn’t done much to revitalize its menu.

And as we reported the other day, even BK’s recent attempt to serve up better fries fell a little short of the high water mark set by Wendy’s when our pals at Consumer Reports tested them.

Wendy’s Stages a Palace Coup [WSJ.com]

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