History
The idea for Wendy's "old fashioned" hamburgers was actually inspired by Dave Thomas' trips to Kewpee in his home town of Kalamazoo, Michigan. The Kewpee sold square hamburgers and thick malt shakes, much like the well-known restaurant that Thomas eventually founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1969. Within a year, Thomas opened a second restaurant in Columbus, featuring what Wendy's claims in its corporate history was "the first modern-day, drive-thru window", added in November 1970. The Columbus location later added a Tim Hortons and was closed on March 2, 2007, after more than 37 years of business due to declining sales. Thomas named the restaurant after his fourth child Melinda Lou "Wendy" Thomas. Photographs and illustrations of her (as well as other memorabilia based upon her) were on display at the original Wendy's restaurant until it closed.
In 1979, Wendy's was the first fast-food chain to introduce the salad bar. Garden Sensations salads were added in 2002.
In response to a 1986 slowdown in the chain's performance, 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 would be more competitive in the market.
On April 24, 2008, the company announced a merger with Triarc, the parent company of Arby's. Despite the new ownership, Wendy's headquarters remained in Dublin. Previously, Wendy's had rejected more than two buyout offers from Triarc Companies Inc. Following the merger, Triarc became known as Wendy's/Arby's Group, a publicly traded company. The merger was unsuccessful and Arby's was sold in summer 2011.
In October 2012, the company unveiled an updated logo that will go into use in March 2013.
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