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). 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. In addition, the company rejected more than two buyout offers from Triarc Companies Inc.,, Wendy's was then sold to the owners of Arby's. Triarc Companies Inc., which is run by billionaire investor Nelson Peltz. Roughly paid out was $2.34 billion in an all-stock deal. Wendy's had previously rejected offers from Triarc before they gave in to the deal.

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 $9.45 billion (USD) in total sales. 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.

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. The company also advertises that its burgers are made from fresh ground beef, not frozen.

History

Wendy's was founded by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969 and was named after Dave's fourth child, Melinda Lou Thomas, then eight years old, whom her older siblings nicknamed "Wendy" (originally "Wenda", 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.Fact: date=October 2008 There are actually 16,589 people in the U.S. named Dave Thomas, according to the book, The External Assessment, by Tim.Fact: date=October 2008 January 8 2002.