I cannot inform a lie. I’m a fan of Wendy’s and have all the time been and all the time can be. By no means in 1,000,000 years would I’ve believed I’d be a visitor at Wendy’s Headquarters in Dublin, Ohio.
Initially printed on March 30, 2016. Up to date January 13, 2026.
Inside Wendy’s Headquarters in Dublin, Ohio
On a street journey to Ohio, I used to be with my mates, which discovered us staying in Columbus (Ohio), the identical metropolis the place Wendy’s was based. We had simply visited White Fort HQ, and their VP Jamie Richardson talked about he may have the ability to hook me up with the oldsters at Wendy’s, and he did.
Bry Roth (Model Supervisor for Wendy’s on the time) reached out to me, and the following factor I knew, we had been invited to their Innovation Middle inside Wendy’s Headquarters in Dublin, Ohio.
It was surreal to tug as much as Wendy’s workplaces.
We got a tour of the place all the brand new concepts are labored at Wendy’s Innovation Middle. There was an thrilling dish that they had been testing, however I promised I wouldn’t point out what it was. Sadly, it by no means made it to the menu.
Then, our tour guides led us via the room the place all of the blind tasting takes place and at last to a kitchen duplicate of what you’ll discover at each Wendy’s. All of the whereas, our tour guides (Marshall Scarborough – Director of Culinary and Product Innovation, and Lori Estrada – VP of Culinary Menu Innovation) had been complete, pleasant, and answered all of our questions.
I didn’t take footage contained in the Innovation Middle aside from Dave’s Double, Baconator Fries, and everybody concerned. I wasn’t certain if I might, and I didn’t need to push my luck.
Plus, typically it’s good to have some issues left to the creativeness.
Speaking Meals at Wendy’s Innovation Middle
I can’t even describe how unimaginable Dave’s Double and Baconator Fries had been. Whereas we ate, we spoke about Wendy’s, the Burger Beast web site, my Burger Museum, and burgers in Miami, Florida.
Bry talked about that the flagship Wendy’s location with a Dave Thomas (Wendy’s founder) statue and a bunch of memorabilia was simply down the block. So we stated our goodbyes and thank yous to everybody, then drove to the flagship retailer.
The restaurant was bustling with exercise, and getting nice footage was difficult.
After which we went via the drive-thru for some Frostys. It’s precisely what my grandfather would have finished.
What follows is an edited excerpt from my e-book, All In regards to the Burger, documenting the true historical past of Wendy’s and its founder Dave Thomas.
The Historical past of Wendy’s
Earlier than we delve into Wendy’s historical past, I have to provide you with some Kentucky Fried Hen historical past. Once more, I do know that is about Wendy’s, however it is going to all make sense in a bit of bit.
The Colonel Is aware of Greatest
Phil Clauss owned a number of places of the Pastime Home restaurant. Dave Thomas was the pinnacle cook dinner on the Fort Wayne location. He had not too long ago returned to work on the Pastime Home in 1953 after a three-year stint within the Military. That very same 12 months, Dave met 18-year-old waitress Lorraine Buskirk, and so they had been married in 1954.
Dave would finally be promoted to vp of the Pastime Home however of a brand new barbecue restaurant referred to as the Pastime Ranch Home. Clauss then instructed Dave about an attention-grabbing character named Colonel Harland Sanders, whom he had met at a restaurant conference in 1956. The Colonel had a white mustache and goatee, a gold-tipped cane that he walked round with, and a white Cadillac.
Sanders pitched the now world-famous secret herbs and spices together with a extra environment friendly option to fry hen. At this level, his hen was only a featured merchandise on others’ menus; there have been no KFC standalone eating places. The Colonel would promote you his spice mix and strain cookers to cook dinner the hen, plus he made a nickel per piece of hen bought in perpetuity.
Dave was not bought on the thought till he realized that it considerably lower the prep time for fried hen. The general public additionally appeared , so Clauss agreed so as to add Kentucky Fried Hen to his menus at his Fort Wayne location and others all through the Midwest.
Dave’s relationship with the Colonel grew all through the following few years, and he thought of him a mentor. In 1960, Clauss opened 4 Kentucky Fried Hen franchises in Columbus, Ohio. A 12 months later, the gross sales had been horrible, so he supplied Dave the chance to show them round. He was assured a 40 % possession stake within the firm as soon as he paid off the unique $250,000 funding.
Clauss and Lorraine had religion in him, however the Colonel, not a lot.
“Hearken to the Colonel, boy,” Dave recalled Col. Sanders saying to him in his autobiography. “As your good friend, get out now whilst you can. Issues are simply too far gone right here.”
When he arrived in Colombus in 1962 to show the shops round, issues had been even worse than he thought. He discovered that not one of the places had any credit score, and even his good friend Colonel Sanders required money on supply for any purchases.
He spruced up all 4 spots with a model new coat of paint and created the wobbling or rotating (relying on the way you have a look at it) pink and white bucket signal exterior with Colonel Sanders’ picture. He took the menu and shrunk it down, including a spotlight to the fried hen. There was no cash for promoting, so he exchanged hen for airtime on native TV and radio stations. Dave additionally acquired his hen provider to pay for a newspaper advert.
All his concepts and arduous work paid off, and in 1968, the 4 places had been bought. He pocketed $1.5 million for his 40 %, which quantities to simply beneath $11 million right this moment. Dave Thomas was now a millionaire on the age of 35.
Millionaires Don’t Sit Round
Dave didn’t sit round and luxuriate in his success. He was cooking up an concept round his love of hamburgers. He instructed his good friend Len Immke what he had rolling round in his head. Len instructed him it was arduous to get a great lunch in downtown Columbus and that possibly Dave ought to contemplate opening his new restaurant in one in all Len’s buildings on Broad Avenue.
The fast-food scene was shifting away from high quality and in the direction of a profits-first mentality. Dave was taken with turning issues again round with a refocus on high quality and an old-school restaurant environment. The tops of all of the tables had Tiffany-style lamps, bentwood chairs, and turn-of-the-century promoting.
As I discussed earlier within the White Fort modern’s profiles, KewPee Hamburgers impressed Dave’s new idea with their sq. burgers and thick malt shakes. Dave preferred that the corners caught out of the buns, and prospects might see the standard of the meat.
The menu was easy, one of many takeaways from his time at revamping Clauss’ eating places. It featured made-to-order single, double, and triple hamburgers, their “Secret Recipe” chili, french fries, smooth drinks, and their dairy dessert, the Frosty.
Why It Was Named Wendy’s
Dave needed to convey a healthful picture when it got here to his restaurant, so he named it after his red-headed, freckle-faced daughter Melinda Lou Thomas, who was 8 years outdated on the time. She had struggled to pronounce Melinda as a toddler, so her household referred to as her “Wenda.” I do know, the restaurant is known as Wendy’s however Wenda’s didn’t have the fitting ring to it.
Dave was closely criticized for getting into the overcrowded fast-food house. He had hoped, at least, to create an area chain that might be ideally suited as a summer time job for his youngsters.
On November fifteenth, 1969, Wendy’s grand opened in downtown Columbus. Wenda, properly, let’s name her Wendy any further, was strolling round charming everybody in that signature blue and white striped costume made world-famous by the Wendy within the brand.
One 12 months later, the second Wendy’s location opened in Columbus, that includes an business innovation. Drive-thrus had been starting to turn into well-liked, however Wendy’s pick-up window had a completely separate grill only for these orders, which sped up wait instances.
A Sequence of Wendy’s Firsts
In August 1972, L.S. Hartzog turned the primary Wendy’s franchise proprietor. He opened his eating places in Indianapolis, Indiana. Quickly, Wendy’s started enlisting new franchise house owners at an unprecedented fee for such a brand new restaurant.
In 1972, a collection of commercials that includes their “High quality Is Our Recipe” slogan and an animated Wendy dancing with hamburgers hit the Ohio TV airwaves.
Jim Close to, a good friend of Dave’s from his Kentucky Fried Hen days, owned a rival Burger Boy Meals-A-Rama down the road. Jim later turned vp of that firm and an government at Borden Inc. after they purchased out Burger Boy. In 1974, he turned a Wendy’s franchise proprietor and would go on to personal 38 extra places in West Virginia and Florida.
Jim Close to established the Sisters Hen & Biscuits chain after he bought his places again to the Wendy’s company in 1978. Sisters turned a division of Wendy’s in 1981 and was bought off in 1987 to its largest franchise proprietor.
Wendy’s preliminary public inventory providing, in September 1976, on the NASDAQ alternate was for a million frequent shares of inventory at $28 per share.
Wendy’s opened its a thousandth restaurant in Springfield, Tennessee, in March 1978. This set an business report for opening 1,000 eating places in 100 months. By November 1980, Wendy’s had 2000 places.
Wendy’s gave the impression to be on a roll till Dave Thomas resigned as CEO of Wendy’s in 1982. Retailer gross sales had flattened out, and the corporate struggled within the dog-eat-dog quick meals market.
Hiya, Clara Peller
All the pieces modified on January tenth, 1984, when aged actress and former manicurist Clara Peller, together with Elizabeth Shaw and Mildred Lane, had been featured within the uber-successful “The place’s the Beef” industrial. Clara would go on to star in ten commercials for Wendy’s. The “The place’s the Beef” marketing campaign was such a juggernaut that it spawned a whole line of merchandise, from puffy stickers and trash cans to puzzles.
The unique The place’s the Beef industrial went on to register the best shopper consciousness stage within the promoting business’s historical past. In 1984, it was voted the most well-liked industrial in the US.
In 1985, Clara Peller appeared in a 30-second TV industrial for Prego spaghetti sauce, saying, “I discovered it!” “I actually discovered it!” “I lastly discovered it!” and “Boy, did I discover it!” She was alluding to her now-famous catchphrase, which didn’t sit properly with the oldsters at Wendy’s. Clara was fired, and a Wendy’s spokesperson issued this assertion.
“The industrial infers that Clara discovered the meat someplace aside from Wendy’s eating places. Sadly, Clara’s look within the advertisements makes it extraordinarily tough for her to function a reputable spokesperson for our merchandise.”
Jim Close to Steps In
The gross sales for 1985 had been unimaginable, however the firm acquired complacent and made some errors, together with an ill-fated try and penetrate the breakfast market. By the top of the 12 months, twenty % of the corporate’s shops had been on the verge of chapter.
Dave Thomas means that his outdated buddy Jim Close to tackle the job of president and chief working officer. Close to agrees to simply accept the place on the situation that Dave return to lively responsibility because the face of Wendy’s new promoting marketing campaign and likewise as a touring mentor.
Naar additionally means that Dave turn into a touring mentor for the corporate. Dave taught Wendy’s franchises that everybody wanted an MBA, “Mop Bucket Perspective.” When he wasn’t visiting shops, he was filming commercials. Dave appeared in additional than 800 of them and, in flip, turned a family identify.
Jim Close to refined and standardized Wendy’s working mannequin. Six years after his modifications, the worker turnover fee dropped to twenty % from 55. Wendy’s would then see 16 years of same-store gross sales will increase.
The creation of the 99¢ value level menu in 1988 and the Wendy’s Tremendous Worth Menu in 1989 with 9 gadgets at 99¢ turned the quick meals market on its ear.
If there was any doubt that the corporate had turned the nook, the earnings for 1995 had been above Wendy’s peak excessive in 1985. Sadly, Close to died of a coronary heart assault the next 12 months whereas on the Olympic Video games in Atlanta.
Then, Dave Thomas handed away from liver most cancers on January eighth, 2002, at his residence in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He was 69 and was buried in his hometown of Columbus.
On January twenty ninth, 2006, Wendy’s moved their headquarters to Dublin, Ohio.
Adjustments at Wendy’s Over the Years
Wendy Thomas made her Wendy’s commercial debut in a collection of commercials that started airing on TV in November 2010.
The recipe for Wendy’s burger patty used within the single, double, and triple hamburgers was altered in late 2011. The brand new Dave’s Sizzling’ N Juicy hamburger patty was thicker, with the enduring sq. form barely rounded off on the corners. Pink onions changed white, and the condiments ketchup and mayonnaise made the lower whereas mustard acquired the heave-ho.
In November 2012, Morgan Smith Goodwin took over as a Wendy-like character in a collection of commercials with the slogan “Now that’s higher.”
With over 6,500 places, Wendy’s continues Dave Thomas’s philosophy of “High quality is our recipe.”
9 Lesser-Identified Wendy’s Information
- After thirty-eight years of enterprise, the primary Wendy’s retailer in downtown Columbus closed on March 2, 2007, as a consequence of dwindling gross sales. Many indignant prospects had been current when it closed, however Dave’s son, Ken Thomas, believes his father would have closed it additionally. A historic marker stands on the web site right this moment.
- There was just one Frosty machine on the first Wendy’s location. Dave Thomas would combine the chocolate and vanilla ice cream himself.
- When Thomas’ mentor, Colonel Harland Sanders, handed away on December 16, 1980, he ordered the flags in any respect Wendy’s places to fly at half-staff.
- The “sisters” within the Wendy’s-founded Sisters Hen and Biscuits restaurant chain seek advice from Dave Thomas’ different three daughters.
- After Thomas returned to the corporate within the late Nineteen Eighties, his new enterprise card learn, “Founder and Jim’s Proper-Hand Man,” a reference to his good good friend Jim Close to.
- Dave Thomas dropped out of highschool when he was fifteen. This choice haunted him till he determined to complete his training in 1993.
Thomas was sixty-one years outdated. He had all the time felt that training was important to the adolescence and didn’t need to ship the unsuitable message to everybody, particularly kids. Thomas obtained his GED from Coconut Creek Excessive College close to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The senior class voted him “Most Prone to Succeed,” he and his spouse Lorraine had been named the college’s promenade king and queen that 12 months. - In 1994, town of Philadelphia needed to nice Wendy’s $98,400, claiming the restaurant was shorting their quarter-pound burgers by as much as 1 / 4 of an oz.. Philly later introduced that they’d made a mistake and withdrew the nice.
- In 2000, Dave Thomas was acknowledged within the Guinness E-book of World Information because the founder who made essentially the most tv industrial appearances as a spokesperson for his firm.
- Shut to a few hundred million Frostys are served yearly at Wendy’s. The Frosty have to be served at a temperature of between nineteen and twenty-one levels to maintain the correct quantity of thickness and texture.
My Private Historical past With Wendy’s
The primary time I ever noticed a Wendy’s was throughout the road from Echevarria Printing (my grandfather’s print store in Miami, Florida, Westchester, to be precise), and from the second I ate there, I used to be hooked.
I clearly keep in mind harassing (that is the proper phrase right here) El Viejo (a Cuban Grandfather time period of endearment) by way of rotary cellphone after getting residence from elementary college. He wanted to deliver me a Wendy’s Single with solely cheese, ketchup, and mayo.
It had labored a number of instances, however I knew he was able to dismiss my request. So I introduced a secret weapon, my little sister Michelle, and her love for Wendy’s Frosty.
If I needed to guess, we in all probability acquired him to deliver us Wendy’s six to seven instances over a number of weeks. I don’t need you to assume he was making any particular journeys out of his option to a special home.
My grandfather Gollo lived with us, so we in all probability didn’t see something unsuitable with this. I’m uncertain how he put up with us, however he was all the time the most effective.
Abuelo Gollo was additionally an enormous fan of the Frosty, so I’m undecided there was that a lot arm-twisting.
👉 Take a look at what Wendy’s is cooking up now with their new Hen Tendys and sauces.