Wendy's
- For the Australian ice cream chain, see Wendy's Supa Sundaes.
| Company type | Public (NYSE: WEN) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Fast Food |
| Founded | 1969 in Columbus, OH |
| Headquarters | Dublin, Ohio, USA |
Key people | Dave Thomas, Founder |
| Products | Fast food, including hamburgers, french fries, and dairy desserts |
| Revenue |  $2.439 billion USD (2006)[1] |
| $37.0 million USD (continuing operations) (2006) | |
Number of employees | 57,000 (2005)[2] |
| Website | www.wendys.com |
Wendy's is a chain of restaurants founded by Dave Thomas based in Dublin, Ohio and owned by the American corporation Wendy's International, Inc.. There are over 6,700 Wendy's restaurants worldwide.[3]
Corporate profile
History
Wendy's was founded by Dave Thomas in 1969 and was named after Dave's second daughter, Melinda Lou Thomas, then 8 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 Columbus, Ohio on November 15, 1969, and the chain grew rapidly to open over 3,000 restaurants by 1985. However, by the mid-1980s some underperforming Wendy's restaurants were closed. By 1989, 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. In 1970, Wendy's was the first fast-food chain to offer a drive-through window. Implemented initially at Wendy's second location, the "Pick-Up Window" used a speaker box to allow a customer to drive up, place an order, then drive to the window to complete the order.
On February 23, 2007, Wendy's announced that the first Wendy's Restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, opened by Dave Thomas in 1969, would close permanently on March 2, 2007.[4] 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.[5]
In 1995, Tim Hortons' popularity had spilled over to American investors; the chain's parent company, The TDL Group ("TDL" stands for the original corporate name "Tim Doughnut Ltd."), was acquired by Wendy's International, Inc..[6] As a result, Ron Joyce, Tim Horton's partner and first franchisee, was, for a time, the largest shareholder of Wendy's.
Products
The chain is famous for its square ground beef hamburgers, which are made to order at the time of purchase. 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. The Kewpee restaurant still thrives in Lima, Ohio.
Wendy's hamburgers are served as a "Junior" (1/8 pound), Classic Single (1/4 pound), Big Bacon Classic (1/4 pound), Classic Double (1/2 pound), and as a Classic Triple (3/4 pound). It is also known for its desserts and chili. Originally Wendy's had only two kinds of chicken sandwiches, breaded 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). To this date, it is the only promotional sandwich to have been upgraded to full-time menu status.
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.
In 1988, they were the first fast-food chain to create a "99 Cent Value Menu" where (until a couple years ago) everything on that menu was exactly 99 cents. Today however, the Super Value Menu prices can range from the traditional 99 cents up to $1.29.
Breakfast
Wendy's has recently begun experimenting with a breakfast menu in some of its stores, notably in and around Dublin, Ohio, where Wendy's is headquartered. Unlike most fast food chains, Wendy's historically did not serve breakfast, except for restaurants in Puerto Rico. Wendy's experimented with serving breakfast for a short time in the mid-1980s, but the endeavor was unsuccessful. The new breakfast menu differs slightly from the one featured in the 1980s.
Despite the failed experiments, a number of stores have continuously served breakfast since the 1980s. They include the store inside the Port Columbus International Airport as well as formerly at the Ohio Union prior to its demolition in 2007. The Wendy's location at the Kirkwood Truckstop in Kirkwood, New York and the downtown Cincinnati, Ohio location also serve breakfast.
Superbar
In the late 1980s and early 1990s Wendy's also offered the "Superbar"[7], 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 economical and somewhat popular, did not fit into Wendy's fast-food oriented mindset. Most restaurants stopped featuring the buffets around 1998.
Menu items
- Wendy's combo meals originally featured french fries as the side item, but currently a number of options for side items are featured, including salads (side and caesar side), chili con carne, yogurt with granola, mandarin oranges, and baked potatoes.
- 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".[8]
- In July 2006, Wendy's introduced a vanilla flavor of their famous Frosty dessert, which had previously been available only in chocolate. In 2007, the restaurant began serving the Vanilla Frosty Float. Despite its name, the drink may contain either vanilla or chocolate Frosty.
- In December 2006, Wendy's phased out and stopped offering their fried "Homestyle" chicken strips. There is now a chicken club combo in the strip's place, which features a Homestyle chicken patty with Swiss cheese and bacon.
- In Japan, Wendy's offers a red bean paste and cheese sandwich called an "An" Burger (あんバーガー).[9]
- On June 18, 2007, Wendy's switched the #4 combo from the Big Bacon Classic to the new "Baconator".
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. 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. 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."
Scrubs star Zach Braff can currently be heard in voiceover in Wendy's newest commercials.[citation needed] With the launch of the new ad campaign, Wendy's has also unveiled a new slogan, "That's right."
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.) Wendy's also shares advertisment with Nintendo. When you buy specific Wendy's items you can enter a code on www.frostyfloat.com and win a free Nintendo Wii.
Slogans
- 1970: "Quality Is Our Recipe" (still on logo)
- 1978: "Juicy hamburgers and lots of napkins"
- 1980: "Wendy's Has the Taste"
- 1981: "Ain't No Reason to Go Anyplace Else"
- 1982: "You're Wendy's Kind of People"?
- 1983: "It's the best time for...Wendy's" (Philippines)
- 1984: "Where's the beef?"
- 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"
- 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 Brand New Made) (Honduras)
- 2002: "It's hamburger bliss."
- 2004: "It's better here"
- 2005 - 2007: "Do what tastes right." (primary slogan)
- 2005 - Present: "It takes flair to be square."
- 2006 - Present: "Don't Compromise. Personalize."
- 2006: "We don't cut corners."
- 2007 - Present: "That's Right."
News events
Franchise closures
In October 2006, approximately 50 Wendy's restaurants in the St. Louis, Missouri area (including a large section of Illinois from East St. Louis, Decatur,Bloomington-Normal, Springfield, and Champaign-Urbana), were forcibly closed without warning due to financial troubles from the franchisee, WenAmerica. As of June 2007, the restaurants remain closed and vacant. In [10]May, 2007, the 2 Wendy's in Normal, Illinois are under new ownership and have reopened.
Fraud against company
In March 2005, Anna Ayala fraudulently claimed to have bitten into a human fingertip in her chili at a San Jose, California Wendy's restaurant, resulting in staggering sales losses for the chain. Many investigations took place, but none of the workers who came in contact with the chili were missing a finger. It was later proven that Ayala purposely put the finger in her chili in order to obtain money in a lawsuit.
The Wendy's Massacre
See: Wendy's Massacre (2000 in Queens, New York)
Ellen DeGeneres
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.[11]
Countries with Wendy's
| Countries currently with Wendy's: | |
|---|---|
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| Planned expansions: | |
| Countries formerly with Wendy's: | |
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When Wendy's opened stores in Australia and Colombia, they did not last long. Nine restaurants were picked up in Victoria by Hungry Jack's in 1986 after the Wendy's Hamburger Chain went bust.[12]
Wendy's also had for a short time restaurants in Hong Kong.[citation needed]
Further, in the 1980s Wendy`s operated some restaurants near military locations throughout Germany, but with the drawdown of the forces, Wendy's retired in the 1990s.
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 colour schemes.
Wendy's restaurants closed in Greece in 2002 after almost 8 years of operation due to heavy competition from other restaurants such as Goody's and McDonald's.[citation needed] It also closed its restaurants in Hungary on 30th June 2002 due to the same reasons. Wendy's also had locations in major cities across the United Kingdom; the company run locations were sold to McDonald's in 1999.[citation needed] A handful of franchised Wendy's restaurants remained. Wendy's also had 18 restaurants in Argentina. All of them were closed in November 2000.[13][14]
See also
- Carolina style (for Wendy's "Carolina Classic")
- Wendy's of Michigan The only publically-traded Wendy's Franchisee
References
- ^ SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
- ^ http://www.hoovers.com/wendy's/--ID__11621--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml
- ^ Corporate and Investor Website
- ^ Wolf, Barnet D. (2007-02-23). "Wendy's in the Midwest closes". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2007-02-23.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); External link in|publisher= - ^ Associated Press. "Wendy's to close its original restaurant".
- ^ [1]CBC Archives, "US burger giant buys Tim Hortons doughnut chain", August 8 1995
- ^ COMPANY NEWS; Wendy's Buffet
- ^ Finley,Adam (2006-06-12). "Wendy's ditches the term "biggie"". Ad Jab. Retrieved 2006-08-29.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); External link in|publisher= - ^ Japanese Wendy's official site
- ^ Miller,Scott (2006-10-05). "Wendy's in the Midwest closes". The Pantagraph. Retrieved 2006-10-21.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); External link in|publisher= - ^ Ellen Degeneres Boycott
- ^ The Hungry Jack's Story explains in limited detail about the Wendy's Hamburgers acquisition.
- ^ Wendy's closes Argentina stores, raises EPS goal bizjournals.com
- ^ Wendy's takes strategic action in Argentina market prnewswire.co.uk
External links
- Wendy's official website
- Wendy's Philippines
- Junior! The Wendy's Guy - A cashier at the Wendy's in the University of Texas at Austin, who has gained notoriety for his quick fingers and friendly attitude.
- Wendy's famous "Soviet Fashion Show" commercial
- Wendy's "Where's the Beef?" classic commercial