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Saturday 11 May 2019

Wendy's

Wendy's founder Dave Thomas (July 2, 1932 – January 8, 2002) dropped out of high school but picked up his GED in 1993. His GED class voted him Most Likely to Succeed.

Before he founded Wendy's, Dave Thomas worked for Kentucky Fried Chicken ending up as a Regional Director. He is credited with inventing the famous red and white KFC bucket, and advising Colonel Sanders to appear in his own commercials.

Dave Thomas opened the first Wendy's restaurant on November 15, 1969 in Columbus, Ohio.

Wendy's "old fashioned" burgers were inspired by Thomas's trips to Kewpee Hamburgers in his home town of Kalamazoo, Michigan, which sold square patties.


Wendy's is named after Dave Thomas' daughter, Melinda—she couldn't pronounce Rs and Ls as a kid, calling herself “Wenda.”

Dave Thomas regretted using his daughter's name. Not long before he died he told his daughter: "I should've just named it after myself, because it put a lot of pressure on you."

The first Wendy's franchisee, L.S. Hartzog, signed an agreement for Indianapolis, Indiana in August 1972.

A single Dutch snack restaurant holds the registered name Wendy's since 1988 in the Benelux (Belgium/Netherlands/Luxembourg) region. This has hindered Wendy's attempts to branch out in Europe, even after Wendy's (US) went to court to try to get the trademark registration dropped.

Wendy's moved its headquarters to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006.


As of December 31, 2018, Wendy's was the world's third largest hamburger fast food chain with 6,711 locations, following Burger King and McDonald's.

Of the total of 6,711 locations, 6,358 restaurants are franchised, and 92% of the system-wide restaurants are located in North America.

There are no Wendy's in Europe due to a local Dutch snackbar owner owning the Wendy's trademark in Europe. Since the year 2000, Wendy's has been embroiled in a legal war with the Dutch Wendy's, attempting to acquire a European trademark. Dutch courts, however, side with Dutch Wendy's every time. 

Dave Thomas insisted his favorite meal was a Wendy's Single with cheese, mustard, pickle and onion, fries, a frosty dairy dessert and a Diet Coke.

Dave Thomas appeared in more than 800 commercial advertisements for the Wendy's chain from 1989 to 2002, more than any other company founder in television history.


As a high-school dropout, Dave Thomas was afraid his success would convince teens to drop out of school, so at age 60, he went back and got his GED.

Clara Peller, a retired manicurist, was hired at age 80 as a temp on a commercial set. Her voice and manner brought an acting contract, and she became rich and famous from Wendy's "Where's the beef" campaign.

Peller lost her job in 1985 after doing a Prego ad in which she "found the beef at somewhere other than Wendy's."

Wendy's burgers are square and not circular because square patties have corners that stick out so that customers can easily see the quality of the meat.

Wendy's Bacon Deluxe 

For dessert, Wendy's serve Frostys, which is actually a mixture of chocolate and vanilla flavors. This was because Dave Thomas thought that 100% chocolate would be too overpowering a flavor when paired with a Wendy's burger and fries meal.

1 comment:

  1. Wendy’s is an American fast-food restaurant that serves quality and good food. wendyswantstoknow becomes one of the best fast-food restaurants in recent times with the quality food it serves

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