HERMITAGE, Pa. – Wendy Thomas Morse – the namesake of the Wendy’s fast food chain, which was founded by her father, Dave Thomas, in 1969 – is bullish on Hermitage.
Thomas 5 Ltd., the franchise group Morse owns with her sisters, purchased the Hermitage restaurant, now located on the edge of the former Shenango Valley Mall property, in February.
She now is making plans for an expected spring 2027 groundbreaking for an updated restaurant to be built about 100 yards away from the existing store.
The move is part of the overall redevelopment of the mall property, which will be dubbed Hickory Fields. The developer, Ohio-based Flicore LLC, needs the spot where the outdated current Wendy’s is.
At its new location, the eatery will be oriented with the front facing the street, Morse says. The existing store is configured with the building’s left side facing the road.
“It’s a win-win,” she remarks. “I hope it is. I’m banking on it.”
In the background of the current North Hermitage Road Wendy’s, contractors are working on the 130,000-square-foot Target store under construction, the anchor tenant of Hickory Fields. Construction of the store is on pace for a March 2027 opening, according to Mark Longietti, director of business and community development in Hermitage.
Flicore representatives and local officials announced plans in January 2024 for Hickory Fields, a multiyear development project featuring national retailers and restaurants. Minnesota-based Target only confirmed last September that it would open a store at the former mall property, although renderings and other documentation filed with the city that heavily suggested the retailer would be the end user of the $16 million building under construction.
“Hickory Fields’ development is going smoothly and as planned,” Maria Manley-Dutton, chief operating officer and chief legal officer for Flicore, says in an email. ”We are pleased with the progress to date.”
Wendy’s
“We just want to be all ready to go when we need to go,” Morse says.” Hopefully we’ll have all our permitting done here in the next few months.”
The new Hermitage restaurant will feature a more updated look and technology, including new digital menu boards.
The Hermitage Wendy’s – which was acquired with two in New Castle – is one of 11 that Thomas 5 operates in Pennsylvania, along with nine in the Youngstown area, Morse reports. With the existing Youngstown area stores as well as those in Butler, Pa., acquisition of the Hermitage and New Castle stores represented “a natural flow for us,” she remarks.
Morse met with city officials not long after her franchisee group acquired the Hermitage restaurant and the parties subsequently participated in a virtual meeting, Longietti recalls.
“The fact that they’re coming in and they want to make a new investment into that property, that’s an encouraging sign,” Longietti remarks. Thomas 5’s owners are experienced franchisees, with approximately 40 stores in the Ohio-Pennsylvania region, and as the franchise’s namesake Morse is “very dedicated and committed to quality”’ he adds.
“We sat down and talked to him, just to see what’s happening in the city – great, great people who really care,” she remarks. “It’s a nice feeling to be in a great town.”
In June, land development plans for two more restaurants coming to Hickory Fields – Chick-fil-A and Longhorn Steakhouse – were recorded by the Mercer County recorder’s office, and the city issued construction permits for both, Longietti reports.
“We expect construction to begin later this year,” he says. A third restaurant, Chili’s, is expected to follow.
The city official also reports that Hickory Fields Boulevard – which runs from the roundabout just east of Target and through the entire length of the development – is “substantially completed,” with just some landscaping that remains to be completed, and will be dedicated as a city street. The boulevard includes sidewalks for pedestrian traffic.
Beyond Hickory Fields
Pulp Juice and Smoothie Bar at Hermitage Towne Plaza, which held its grand opening July 7, drew a strong response, with lines stretching out the door the morning it opened.
“I’m ecstatic. I thought they had a very large turnout,” Longietti says. “The franchisees are a local couple, Matt and Jacqueline McKee, and people in the community are excited they are bringing something new to the community.”
One of the owners of the new Pulp Juice and Smoothie Bar also is optimistic about the impact that Hickory Fields and its anchor tenant will have in the city.
“We feel like it’s really going to be good for us, business-wise. It’s going to bring a lot more people to the area, bring a lot more customers to us,” Jacqueline McKee, who owns the Pulp franchise with her husband, Matt, says.
The McKees both grew up in the city and are raising three young children, Jacqueline McKee says. They wanted something healthy, quick and easy for the community.
“We feel like it’s really going to be good for us. The closest one is 20 minutes away,” she says. “We have a lot of community support here, and we think that it’ll do really well because of that.”
The plaza also is getting a new 7 Brew Coffee drive-thru coffee shop, following approval last month by the Hermitage Board of Commissioners of a land development plan, Longietti reports.
“We expect construction to begin later this year and a store opening before year end,” he says. “The building will be a prefabricated modular building so it only takes eight to 12 weeks to complete.”
Longietti also points to the development of the Hermitage Athletic Complex as a community asset. Featuring modern restrooms, concessions, meeting rooms, storage spaces and a covered pavilion, the complex offers facilities to host travel ball tournaments, the first of which will take place in August. A lighting upgrade extends play time at softball fields at the complex.
The community benefits from the complex by bringing people into the area to patronize local hotels and restaurants, and by not forcing local families with players participating to have to travel as much. “
“That facility really has been the missing element to be able to host those opportunities,” he says.
Additionally, city officials are working with Community Hope Investment Partnership, a local nonprofit dedicated to economic and community development in the city. They have had collective discussions with developers interested in new housing construction in the city, and particularly at the LindenPointe Innovative Business Campus, he says. The campus, which has vacant parcels available, was rezoned to permit multifamily housing, and there is interest in constructing condominiums, townhomes and rental units.
The Future
Plans submitted to Hermitage by Flicore indicate another big box store to be developed on the east side of Hickory Fields Boulevard. According to Longietti, Flicore representatives report strong interest in the remaining Hickory Fields parcels and city officials anticipate further announcements later in 2026.
“In talking with the developers, we expect there’s going to be additional announcements,” he says. “Perhaps even this summer, we could hear on another big box that is planned.”
Manley-Dutton, in her email, said Flicore is bound by confidentiality agreements and the tenants would dictate if or when any public announcements would be made.
The various current and potential development projects, along with anticipated future population growth, have Longietti optimistic. He points to an individual and a couple who have taken advantage of the Make My Move program.
The housing market analysis conducted last year by SmithGroup forecasted that Hermitage’s population would increase by 8% by 2032, and the projects and initiatives in the city are evidence of that growth.
“Hermitage is growing, and people are starting to take notice, whether it’s interest in developing new housing, people moving into the city and large projects like Hickory Fields with Target, Chick-fil-A, Chili’s, Longhorn Steakhouse,” Longietti says. “There’s a lot of attention that Hermitage is getting in terms of being a great place to live, work, raise a family and retire.”
Pictured at top: Wendy Thomas Morse, daughter of Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas and the chain’s namesake, plans to build a new Wendy’s location at Hickory Fields.
