Wendy’s

Wendy’s is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. The company moved its headquarters to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of 2016, Wendy’s was the world’s third largest hamburger fast food chain with 6,500+ locations, following Burger King and McDonald’s. On April 24, 2008, the company announced a merger with Triarc Companies Inc., a publicly traded company and 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. Following the merger, Triarc became known as Wendy’s/Arby’s Group, and later as The Wendy’s Company. As of January 2, 2017, there were a total of 6,537 locations, including 330 that are company-owned. 6,207 restaurants are franchised, and 77% of them are located in North America. 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.

Wendy’s menu consists primarily of hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, French fries and beverages, including the signature Frosty, which is a soft-serve frozen dairy dessert. Since phasing out their famous “Big Classic”, the company does not have a signature sandwich, such as the Burger King Whopper or the McDonald’s Big Mac – although, by default, the “signature sandwich” spot seems to have been filled by Dave’s 1/4 lb. Single (introduced in 2011 as Dave’s Hot ‘N Juicy as a reworking of the longstanding Wendy’s Single, shortened to simply Dave’s in 2016), a square-pattied burger made with fresh ground beef rather than round frozen patties. Wendy’s uses square hamburger patties – which hang over the edge of a circular bun – as its signature item.