History
Wendy's hamburgers are based on those of Kewpee Hamburgers in Dave Thomas's home town, Kalamazoo, Michigan; Kewpee sold square hamburgers and thick malt shakes. Thomas founded Wendy's in Columbus, Ohio, in 1969, selling square patties with corners that stuck out of the circular bun, giving the impression of plentiful meat.[7] The Columbus location later added a Tim Hortons. It was closed on March 2, 2007, after 38 years of business, due to declining sales.[8][9] Basketball star John Havlicek, an Ohio State University alumnus, was one of Thomas's earliest investors, which allowed him to retire comfortably.[10]
Thomas named the restaurant after his fourth child Melinda Lou "Wendy" Thomas.[11] Thomas wrote that he regretted naming the restaurant after his daughter because once it became a fast food empire she "lost some of her privacy" with many people assuming she was the official company spokesperson.[12] In August 1972, the first Wendy's franchisee, L.S. Hartzog, signed an agreement for Indianapolis, Indiana.[13] The first Canadian restaurant opened in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1976.[14] In December 1976, Wendy's opened its 500th restaurant, located in Toronto. In March 1978, Wendy's opened its 1000th restaurant in Springfield, Tennessee.[15]
Wendy's founded the fried chicken chain Sisters Chicken & Biscuits in 1978 and sold it to its largest franchisee in 1987.[16] In the 1970s Wendy's opened in Australia, but by 1986 almost all of their Australian stores had been purchased by Hungry Jack's, the Australian franchisee of Burger King. On May 13, 2021, Wendy's opened a pop-up store in The Rocks in the Sydney central business district for a day.[17] In 1979, the first European Wendy's opened in Munich, West Germany.[18] Wendy's entered the Asian market by opening its first restaurants in Japan in 1980, in Hong Kong in 1982, and in the Philippines and Singapore in 1983.[19][20][21]
In response to a 1986 slowdown in the chain's performance, Wendy's took steps to ensure that stores met the required standards.[24] Wendy's closed all its outlets in Hong Kong in 1986 and in Singapore in the following year.[20] From 1988 to 1990, Wendy's expanded operations globally to Mexico, New Zealand, Indonesia, Greece, Turkey, Guatemala, as well as the U.S. Naval Base in Naples, Italy.[25][26] In 1988, Wendy's expanded its bar to a full-blown buffet called the Superbar for $2.99; while popular it was difficult to maintain and was discontinued in 1998.[27] In 1989, Wendy's opened its first restaurant in Greece at Syntagma Square, Athens, made it the first foreign fast-food chain in the country. After opening 12 restaurants in 3 cities, the company abandoned the Greek market in 2002 due to differences with the local franchisee, although it was a very successful and profitable business at the time.[28][29]
Garden Sensations salads were added in 2002.[34] Wendy's signed a franchise agreement to re-enter the Singapore market in 2009,[22] though that agreement was short-lived; in April 2015, Wendy's once again ceased operation in the country and closed all the restaurants.[35] On September 29, 2008, the company merged with Triarc Companies Inc., the publicly traded parent company of Arby's;
In 2011, Wendy's returned to Japan and Argentina announcing a development agreement for 50 restaurants in the country.[36][37] It also entered the Russian market for the first time with plans to open 180 restaurants over a 10-year period. However, only three years later, in 2014, Wendy's closed all its restaurants in the country.[38] In June 2012, Wendy's acquired 30 franchised locations in Austin, Texas from Dave and Jason Near, two sons of former Wendy's CEO James W. Near.[39] These restaurants were then sold to Haza Foods in December 2013.[40] In August 2012, Wendy's acquired 24 franchised restaurants in Albuquerque.[41]
In 2013, Wendy's opened the first restaurant in Georgia and made a deal to open 25 restaurants in Georgia and the Republic of Azerbaijan.[42] In October 2013, Wendy's sold its 24 Seattle locations to longtime franchisee Cedar Enterprises[43][44] and in November 2013, the company sold its 54 Salt Lake City locations to NPC International.[45] In February 2014, Wendy's sold its 70 company-owned locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to MUY Hamburger Partners.[46]
In September 2014, several pork-based products were introduced to be on sale until early November. These included a standard pulled pork sandwich with slaw and three sauce options, a BBQ Pulled Pork Cheeseburger and cheese fries with pulled pork, cheddar cheese sauce, onions, and barbecue sauce.[47]
In May 2015, Wendy's announced they would be expanding into India, with its first outlet located in Gurgaon.[48] In September 2016, JAE Restaurant Group acquired 97 Wendy's restaurants throughout the South Florida region.[49] In 2017, the company sold 540 of its restaurants. The divestiture was the second step in a three-step action plan to improve the brand. Other steps include new openings and remodeling of existing stores. In 2015, the brand opened 80 new restaurants and remodeled 450 of its existing locations. The brand's goal was to remodel at least 60% of its North American locations by 2020.[50] In December 2017, Wendy's announced a partnership with DoorDash for food delivery in the U.S.[51]
In October 2019, Wendy's announced that it was returning to the UK market. The first of 20 planned restaurants was due to open in 2020 in Stoke-on-Trent,[52] but it was later announced that the first location would be Reading, Berkshire.[53] The Reading restaurant opened on June 2, 2021.[54] Wendy's would open its first drive-thru location in the UK in Colchester in July 2023.[55]In January 2021, Wendy's announced that after the bankruptcy of franchisee NPC Quality Burgers Inc., half of NPC's outlets would be bought by Flynn Restaurant.[56]
In 2023, Wendy's announced it would be returning to Australia, with hundreds of locations set to open across the country. The chain previously operated in Australia from the 1970s until it was closed in 1986. However, the US Burger giant has already run into a potential issue with the trademark to Wendy's name already owned by a different fast food outlet named Wendy's Milk Bar, which opened in 1979 and has been operating in the country for over 40 years.[57] In January 2025, Wendy's opened its first store in Surfers Paradise.[58]
In July 2024, Wendy's announced that they had signed an agreement with franchisees in the Republic of Ireland and would begin opening restaurants there beginning in early 2025, with the agreement stipulating that 30 new restaurants would open across the country over the following 10 years.[59] A few days later they announced the first five restaurants in Romania, scheduled to open in 2025. The franchisor for Romania is Canadian company JKC Capital, which operates 61 Wendy's restaurants in Canada and plans to invest $200 million over the next decade.[60][61]
