Wendy's

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Wendy's
Type	Wholly owned subsidiary
Founded	1969 in Columbus, Ohio, USA
Headquarters	Dublin, Ohio, USA
Key people	Dave Thomas (founder) Melinda Lou Thomas, nicknamed Wendy (chain's namesake)
Industry	Fast food
Products	Fast food (including hamburgers, french fries, and dairy desserts)
Revenue	▲ $2.439 billion USD (2006)
Net income	▲ $37.0 million USD (continuing operations) (2006)
Employees	46,000 (2007)
Parent	Wendy's International
Website	www.wendys.com

Wendy's is an international chain of fast food restaurants founded by Dave Thomas in 1969 in Columbus, Ohio. As of December 2006 Wendy's was the third largest hamburger fast food chain with approximately 6,700 locations after McDonald's (31,000 locations) and Burger King (11,200 locations).^[1][2] On April 24, 2008, the company announced a merger with Triarc, the parent of Arby's. Under the new owner the company will remain headquartered in Dublin, Ohio.^[3]

Wendy's International is the parent company of Wendy's, and is a publicly traded company. Approximately 77% of Wendy's restaurants are franchised, the majority of which are located in North America. Wendy's and its affiliates employs more than 46,000 people in its global operations. In fiscal year 2006, the firm had $2.45 billion (USD) in total sales.^[4] While Wendy's sets standards for exterior store appearance, food quality and menu, individual owners have control over hours of operations, interior decor, pricing and staff uniforms and wages.

In response to the 1986 slowdown, Wendy's restructured its cleanliness standards, menu and other operational details to ensure that stores met the goals and standards of the parent company so that its franchises were competitive in the market.^[4]

Wendy's menu consists primarily of hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, french fries and beverages. The company does not have a signature product such as the Whopper or the Big Mac, instead the burger patties it uses in preparing its sandwiches are its signature item. Unlike other major chains, Wendy's burgers are square instead of round. The company also advertises that its burgers are made from fresh ground beef, not frozen.

Contents 1 Corporate profile 1.1 History 1.2 Key Dates 2 Products 2.1 Breakfast 2.2 Superbar 2.3 Menu items 3 Advertising 3.1 Corporate sponsorship 3.2 Slogans 3.2.1 US - Canada 3.2.2 International 4 International locations 4.1 Former International Locations 4.1.1 Australia 4.1.2 United Kingdom 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Corporate profile

[edit] History

Wendy's was founded by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969 and was named after Dave's second daughter, Melinda Lou Thomas, then eight years old, whom her older siblings nicknamed "Wendy" (originally "Winda", stemming from the child's initial difficulty saying her own name), as Thomas stated in his A&E Biography show. The corporate headquarters is located in Dublin, Ohio. The first Wendy's restaurant was opened in 1969 and the chain grew rapidly to more than 3,000 restaurants by 1985. However, in the mid-1980s some under-performing Wendy's restaurants were closed. In 1986 Dave Thomas came out of retirement and started doing commercials for Wendy's and helped rebuild the restaurant until his death on January 8, 2002.

The first Wendy's Restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, opened by Dave Thomas in 1969, was closed on March 2, 2007.^[5] The signs were removed from the building the morning after its last day in operation. Reasons cited for this closing included a lack of foot traffic by potential customers, the closure of museums within proximity of the restaurant, cost-prohibitive renovations that would have been needed, and the lack of an adequate parking lot in front of the facility.^[6] Additionally, there have been several large closures of Wendy's franchise groups in the last few years; most noticeably the closure of its Australian operations and the bankruptcy of the WenAmerica franchise group and closure of its fifty locations in the Midwest region of the US.

In Canada and Maine, as a result of Wendy's 1995 corporate acquisition of the Canadian doughnut chain Tim Hortons, many locations are joint Wendy's–Tim Hortons restaurants (although with separate staff at separate order counters).

On April 24, 2008, Wendy's announced that it would sell itself to Triarc, the parent company of Arby's. According to the New York Times, the stock swap will go for $2.3 billion.^[7]

[edit] Key Dates

• 1969: Wendy's founded^[4]
• 1970: Opens first commercial drive-thru^[4]
• 1979: Introduces salad bar^[4]
• 1984: Where's the beef slogan debuts^[4]
• 1986: Near failure of 1/5 of Wendy's stores^[4]
• 1989: Super Value Menu debuts^[4]
• 1995: Acquires Tim Hortons^[4]
• 2002: Dave Thomas dies^[4]
• 2006: Wendy's divested itself of Tim Hortons^[4]
• 2007: First Wendy's Restaurant closes^[4]
• 2008: Announces merger with Triarc^[8]

[edit] Products

The chain is known for its square ground beef hamburgers. The idea for Wendy's "old fashioned" hamburgers was actually inspired by Dave Thomas' trips to "Kewpee Hamburgers" in his home town of Kalamazoo, Michigan. The Kewpee sold square hamburgers and thick malt shakes, much like the famous restaurant that Thomas eventually founded in Columbus, Ohio in 1969. Multiple Kewpee restaurants still exist in Lima, Ohio.

Wendy's offers two different hamburger patties, a "Junior" 2 ounce (56.7 gram) patty and its "Single" 4 ounce (113.4 gram) patty. Both patties are sold in single, double, and triple sandwich sizes. Originally Wendy's had only two kinds of chicken sandwiches, fried and grilled. Their spicy chicken sandwich started out as a promotional sandwich but was put on the menu full-time in 1996 due to its popularity and the fact that compared to most promotional sandwiches, it was much simpler to make (it used the same condiments as the standard breaded chicken sandwich).

Also the Frescata line of sandwiches went from promotional items to being main menu items. After going through several revisions the Turkey and Swiss and the Ham and Swiss were put on the menu full-time. However the Frescata sandwiches were discontinued in December 2007.

In 1988, they were the first fast-food chain to create a single price-point value menu where all items listed on that menu were priced exclusively at 99¢. The menu was restructured in 2007 as the Super Value Menu with prices ranging from 99¢ to $2.00 USD.

[edit] Breakfast

In mid-2007 Wendy's began a national roll-out of its new breakfast menu in its US and Canadian stores. Wendy's experimented with serving breakfast for a short time in the mid-1980s, but the endeavor was unsuccessful due to several issues.^[9][10] While approximately 300 Wendy's restaurants in the US and its territories have been serving breakfast since then, Wendy's has not had a company-wide breakfast offering until 2005 when it began testing the current offerings.^[10][11] The new breakfast menu should be fully deployed nationwide (US) by late 2008 or early 2009.

The new breakfast menu differs slightly from the one featured in the 1980s, and is structured similarly to its lunch/dinner menu with value meals with a choice of sides and a 99¢ value menu,^[11] Menu items include several breakfast sandwiches served on biscuits, frescuit and Kaiser rolls, breakfast burritos and side orders of hash browns, muffins and cinnamon sticks.^[12] In order to avoid issues from its original breakfast offerings from the 1980s, the new menu is designed for ease of operation, reduced preparation time and lower costs.^[10]

[edit] Superbar

In the late 1980s and early 1990s Wendy's also offered the "Superbar"^[13], an all-you-can-eat buffet. These buffets were reasonably-priced and generally consisted of three "pods": a salad pod, a hot items pod with spaghetti, tacos, burritos, garlic bread, etc., and a dessert and other cold items pod. These buffets, while popular and economical, did not fit into Wendy's fast-food oriented mindset. Most restaurants stopped featuring the buffets around 1998. A smaller version of this bar, offering just salad items was called the "Garden Spot".

[edit] Menu items

• Wendy's features French fries as it primary side item, but also offers a number of options for side items including salads (side and Caesar side), chili, mandarin oranges, and baked potatoes. In several markets the customer may request any of these be substituted for fries in its value meals.

• In June 2006, Wendy's removed their classic "Biggie" and "Great Biggie" sizes in favor of a more traditional sizing system; "Small", "Medium", and "Large".^[14]

• Frosty dessert - a soft serve ice cream dessert sold in chocolate and vanilla flavors. The Frosty flavors are also sold as a float and a mix-in dessert, called the Twisted Frosty, with Oreo, M&Ms or Nestle Tollhouse Cookie Dough mix-ins. Starting nationwide soon is frosty shakes in vanilla bean, chocolate fudge and strawberry with whipped cream and a cherry.

• In Japan, Wendy's offers a red bean paste and cheese sandwich called an "An" Burger (あんバーガー).^[15]

• Big Classic - A sandwich that directly competes with the Burger King Whopper. Mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, pickle, ketchup and onion served on a Kaiser-style roll. A second version with bacon is available, called the Big Bacon Classic.
• Baconator - with mayonnaise, ketchup, 6 strips of bacon, two 1/4 pound (113.4 gram) patties, and two slices of American cheese. In March 2008, Wendy's unveiled the Spicy Baconator, which consists of 6 strips of bacon, two slices of pepperjack cheese, a chipotle ranch sauce, and jalapenos. However, in late April 2008, the Spicy Baconator is now discontinued.
• The Stack Attack is Wendy's new 99 cent double cheeseburger. It comes with two 2-ounce patties, American cheese, ketchup, and mayonnaise on a regular bun.
• In December 2006, Wendy's phased out and stopped offering their fried "Homestyle" chicken strips in most U.S. locations. There is now a chicken club combo in the strip's place, which features a Homestyle chicken patty, Spicy chicken patty or a Grilled Chicken patty with Swiss cheese and bacon. The Homestyle chicken strips are still available in Canada.
• In the Philippines, Wendy's serves fried chicken, a staple at most fast food restaurants in that country.
• In April 2008, Wendy's introduced a new "Chicken Go Wrap". The Homestyle/Spicy wrap consists of 1/2 Homestyle or Spicy chicken, Ranch sauce, lettuce and grated cheddar cheese. Grilled wrap has 1/2 grilled chicken, Honey mustard sauce, lettuce and grated cheddar cheese.

[edit] Advertising

After successful early growth of the chain, sales flattened as the company struggled to achieve brand differentiation in the highly competitive fast-food market. This situation would turn around in the mid-1980s. Starting on January 9, 1984, elderly actress Clara Peller was featured in the successful "Where's the Beef?" North American commercial campaign for Wendy's. Her famous line quickly entered the American pop culture (it was even used by Walter Mondale in a debate with Gary Hart in the Democratic primary election) and served to promote Wendy's hamburgers. Peller, age 84, was dropped from the campaign in 1985 because she performed in a commercial for Prego spaghetti sauce, saying she "finally found" the beef.^[16]

Peller was soon after replaced by Wendy's founder Dave Thomas himself. Soft-spoken and cheerful, the "Dave" ads generally focused on Thomas praising his products and offering a commitment to quality service, although there would occasionally be "wackier" ads as well. After Dave Thomas' death in 2002, Wendy's struggled to find a new advertising campaign. After a round of conventional ads describing the food they serve, in 2004 they tried using a character they made called "Mr. Wendy" who claimed to be the unofficial spokesperson for the chain. After seven months, Wendy's returned to an animated campaign focusing on the difference between Wendy's square hamburgers and the round hamburgers of competitors. In 1997, the company pulled its advertising from the sitcom Ellen after the show's main character came out as a lesbian. The result was a boycott initiated by the gay and lesbian community.^[17]

Wendy's marketing arm engages in product placement in films (such as The Day After Tomorrow, Mr. Deeds, Garfield: The Movie, and Click) and television and is sometimes seen on ABC's hit reality show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition serving food to the more than 100 construction workers. A recent Wendy's commercial features the tune from the Violent Femmes song "Blister in the Sun." (The Wendy's franchise outlet used in The Day After Tomorrow is located on Route 4 in Paramus, New Jersey).

Other memorable campaigns include the "Ranch Tooth" campaign of 2006. The Ranch Tooth, as voiced by Adam Carolla and created by McCann Erickson Worldwide marketing protege Phil Kollin, reminded average people of their craving for a Monterey Ranch Chicken Sandwich or Cheeseburger, often at an inconvenient time.

With their recent "That's right." ad campaign not a success, Wendy's has unveiled a new ad campaign, featuring an animated Wendy that highlights certain menu items. The new ad campaign made its debut in late January 2008, with a new slogan: "It's waaaay better than fast food. It's Wendy's." ^[18]

[edit] Corporate sponsorship

Starting in 1994, Wendy's has sponsored the Wendy's High School Heisman Memorial Trophy Award (also known simply as the Wendy's High School Heisman), named after former college football player and coach John Heisman, to honor high school athletes who also excel in academics and in the community.)

[edit] Slogans

[edit] US - Canada

• 1970 - 1978: Quality Is Our Recipe (This Slogan is still shown on the Wendy's logo today.)
• 1978: Juicy hamburgers and lots of napkins
• 1979: Hot-N-Juicy
• 1980: Wendy's Has the Taste
• 1981: Ain't No Reason to Go Anyplace Else
• 1982: You're Wendy's Kind of People
• 1983: Parts is parts^[4]
• 1984: Where's the beef?^[4]
• 1986: Choose Fresh, choose Wendy's^[19]
• 1987: Give a little nibble
• Circa 1990: The best burgers and a whole lot more (also was printed inside the hamburger wrappers during the 1990s)
• 1997 - Present: Eat great, even late
• 2002: It's hamburger bliss.
• 2004: It's better here^[20]
• 2004: Always Great, Even Late.
• 2005 - 2007: Do what tastes right. (primary slogan)
• 2005 - Present: It takes flair to be square.
• 2007: That's right.
• 2007: Uh Huh.
• 2007: Hot Juicy Burgers
• 2008: It's waaaay better than fast food... It's Wendy's.
• 2008: It's waaaay delicious. It's Wendy's.

[edit] International

• 1983: It's the best time for...Wendy's (Philippines)
• 2000 (approx) - Present: We don't cut corners (New Zealand)
• 2000 (approx) - Present: Wendy's cuadra contigo (Wendy's fits with you). The word cuadra (fit) is a reference to the word cuadro that means square (Venezuela)
• 2001 (approx) - Present: El Sabor de lo Recien Hecho (The Flavor of the Freshly Made) (Honduras)
• 2007 (approx) - Present: Wendy's es Sensacional (Wendy's is Sensational) (El Salvador)
• 2008 - Present: It is not just about fast food, it is fresh food - made fast (Malaysia)

[edit] International locations

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Map of Wendy's global locations Key: Red = countries currently with Wendy's Orange = countries formerly with Wendy's.
Countries currently with Wendy's locations:
Aruba Bahamas Canada with some locations co-branded with Tim Hortons Cayman Islands Costa Rica Dominican Republic Operated until 2002, recently reopened. El Salvador Finland Guam Guatemala Honduras Indonesia Italy	Jamaica Japan Malaysia - recently reopened in Kuala Lumpur. Mexico New Zealand Panama Operated until the mid-1980s, recently reopened. Philippines Puerto Rico Saudi Arabia Romania Russia Turkey United Arab Emirates United States US Virgin Islands Venezuela
Coming soon:
Brazil Algeria Denmark	Chile
Countries formerly with Wendy's:
Argentina Operated from 1996 to November 2000.[21][22] Australia Belgium The Republic of China (Taiwan)[23] Germany Operated in railway stations/US military base areas from the 1980s to the 1990s. Former locations were in: München/Augsburg/Landshut, Nürnberg/Fürth, Frankfurt, Cologne, Heidelberg/Mannheim/Worms and Baumholder.	Greece Operated from 1994 to 2002 Hong Kong Operated from 1991 to 2000.[24] South Korea Israel Singapore United Kingdom Operated in 1980's, closed in 1986, operated again from 1992 to 1999, one remaining store operated to 2007, none remaining as of January 08.

[edit] Former International Locations

[edit] Australia

When Wendy's opened stores in Australia, they did not last long. Nine restaurants were picked up in Victoria by Hungry Jack's (Australian franchise of Burger King) in 1986 after the Wendy's Hamburger Chain went bust.^[25] There is currently another brand of fast-food restaurants called "Wendy's" in Australia and New Zealand. They are an ice cream, hot dogs and drinks franchise which is unrelated to the American hamburger chain. (See Wendy's Supa Sundaes). Both the American and Australian chains' operations coexist in New Zealand. The outlets have different color schemes.

[edit] United Kingdom

Wendy's has tried twice unsuccessfully to establish itself in the United Kingdom, the first attempt failed and restaurants closed in 1986, Wendy's returned in 1992 for a second try, this time opening 18 large sites across the UK in prime locations including in London on Oxford Street, Shaftesbury Avenue, York Way, Croydon, Watford, Uxbridge, Acton, Hounslow, Wood Green and Stevenage, and in other cities such as Belfast, Bradford, Birmingham, Magor, Manchester and Briggate in Leeds. A store was also opened in Dublin, Ireland. These stores were opened gradually but more of them including stores in Yorkshire cities such as Sheffield, were planned and never built partly due to the company's slow growth in face of competition such as McDonald's, Burger King and KFC, the rent in the prime locations the stores were built in was also a major factor to unsatisfactory growth and in 1999 amid ever slowing sales the company decided to pull out of the UK. Most restaurants were sold to rival McDonald's or given back to leaseholders and landlords, the Croydon branch was taken over by an Outdoor store, the Acton and Bradford branches became KFC and the Hounslow branch became a Greggs. The sale of these stores generated 1.5 million GBP, it is unlikely that the chain will attempt another entry into the UK market after two failures.^{[26][27][28][29][30][31][32]} Despite an overall pullout from the UK, one store located in Terminal 3 Arrivals at the London Heathrow Airport remained for a further eight years. ^[33]

[edit] References

• 'Wendy's International, Inc.', I Won Careers (2000). Retrieved August 21, 2005.

[edit] External links

• Wendy's official website
• Wendy's Philippines
• Wendy's famous "Soviet Fashion Show" commercial
• Wendy's "Where's the Beef?" classic commercial
• PDF (see page 2) with reference to only remaining UK location at Heathrow Airport/Terminal 3 Arrivals

v • d • e Wendy's People John T. Schuessler · Dave Thomas Products Frosty · Frescata · Baconator · Big Classic Advertising Where's the beef? · Give a little nibble Websites Wendy's homepage · Wendy's Investor relations · Nutrition Annual revenue ▲ $3.74 billion USD (2004) · Employees 58,000 (2004) · Stock symbol NYSE: WEN · Website wendys.com

v • d • e Wendy's Incorporated Company Executives Dave Thomas Food Fast food fare  · Hamburgers  · Sandwiches  · Italian Holdings Wendy's Incorporated (Parent Company)  · Arby's  · Cafe Express  • Pasta Pomodoro  · Wendy's Websites Arby's  · Wendys  · Pasta Pomodoro