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Wendy's

File:Wendy's logo.svg "Now that's better"
Type	Wholly owned subsidiary
Industry	Restaurant
Founded	Columbus, Ohio (November 15, 1969 (1969-11-15))
Founder(s)	Dave Thomas
Headquarters	1 Dave Thomas Blvd Dublin, Ohio, United States
Number of locations	6,650 stores (2010)
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Dave Thomas, Founder Wendy Thomas, namesake
Products	Hamburgers Chicken sandwiches Salads Breakfast sandwiches Frozen desserts
Revenue	$2.469 billion US$ (2006)
Net income	$37.0 million USD (continuing operations) (2006)
Total assets	$9.45 billion USD (2006)
Employees	46,000
Parent	Wendy's Company
Website	wendys.com

Wendy's is an international fast food chain restaurant founded by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The company decided to move its headquarters to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. It has been owned by Triarc (now called Wendy's Company) since 2008. As of March 2010, Wendy's was the world's third largest hamburger fast food chain with approximately 6,650 locations, following McDonald's 31,000+ locations and Burger King's 12,000+ locations.^[1][2][3] In 2011, Wendy's sales exceeded those of Burger King for the first time in the company's history. With sales of $8.5 billion (USD), the company ranked number two in hamburger chains, although Burger King still had far more restaurants.^[4]

Approximately 77% of Wendy's restaurants are franchised, the majority of which are located in North America. Wendy's and its affiliates employ more than 46,000 people in its global operations. In fiscal year 2006, the firm had $2.469 billion (USD) in total sales.^[5] While Wendy's sets standards for exterior store appearance, food quality and menu, individual owners have control over hours of operations, interior decor, pricing, staff uniforms and wages.

Wendy's menu consists primarily of hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, French fries and beverages, including the Frosty, a form of soft serve ice cream mixed with frozen starches. Up until recently, the company did not have a signature sandwich, such as the Big Mac or the Whopper. Instead, the square burger patties (which are fresh ground beef rather than frozen patties) were their signature items. Recently the company introduced a new sandwich entitled, The "W".

History[link]

Wendy's freestanding unit in Hillsborough, North Carolina

The idea for Wendy's "old fashioned" hamburgers was actually inspired by Dave Thomas's trips to Kewpee Hamburgers 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 1971.^[6] The Columbus location later added a Tim Hortons and was closed on March 2, 2007 after 38 years of business due to declining sales.^[7][8] Thomas named the restaurant after his fourth child Melinda Lou "Wendy" Thomas.^[9] Photographs of 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.^[10]

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.^[5]

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.^[11] 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.^{[citation needed]} The merger was unsuccessful and Arby's was sold in summer 2011.^[12]

Menu[link]

Wendy's headquarters in Dublin, Ohio

Wendy's offers two different hamburger patties, a "Junior" 2.25 ounce (63.8 gram) patty and its "Single" 4 ounce (113.4 gram) patty. 4 ounce patties are sold in single, double and triple sizes whereas the junior patties sell in single and double patties. The previous size of 2 ounces per junior patty was altered to its current size in 2007 to save on expenses from rising food costs. In August, 2011, the junior Mcdouble burger became discontinued and the new Cheesy Cheddarburger being introduced. Originally, Wendy's had only two kinds of chicken sandwiches, fried and grilled. The spicy chicken sandwich started out as a promotional sandwich. It was later put on the menu full-time in 1996 due to its popularity and the fact that, compared to most promotional sandwiches, it was much simpler to make (it used the same condiments as the standard breaded chicken sandwich).

In 1988, Wendy's was the first fast-food chain to create a single price-point value menu where all items listed on that menu were priced exclusively at 99¢. The menu was restructured in 2007 due to rising costs as the Super Value Menu with prices ranging from 99¢ to $2.00 US$. In 2010, Wendy's introduced the Every Day Value Menu with 9 items at $0.99. ( 8 items at $ 1.89 in Canada)

Breakfast[link]

In mid-2007 Wendy's began a national debut of its new breakfast menu in its U.S. and Canadian stores. Wendy's experimented with serving breakfast for a short time in 1985, but the endeavor was unsuccessful due to many issues.^[13][14] While approximately 12 Wendy's restaurants in the U.S. and its territories have been serving breakfast since then, Wendy's has not had a company-wide breakfast offering.^[14][15] The new breakfast menu was expected be fully deployed to all Wendy's in the United States by the end of 2009, but as of July 2010, many Wendy's franchises across the country still do not have a breakfast menu.

The new breakfast menu differs slightly from the one featured in 1985, and it is structured similarly to its lunch/dinner menu, with value meals and various sides like blended fruit.^[15] Menu items include several breakfast sandwiches served on biscuits, frescuit and Kaiser rolls, breakfast burritos and side orders of hash browns, muffins, and cinnamon sticks.^[16] In order to avoid the same issues the original 1985 breakfast offerings faced, the new menu was designed for ease of operation, lower costs, and reduced preparation time.^[14]

In 2011, Wendy's said the chain plans to change its breakfast menu. Pancakes and omelets have not been successful because they "aren't conducive to eating on the go."^[12]

Menu items[link]

A Wendy's outlet in Manila, Philippines.

A busy front counter at a Wendy's restaurant in Niagara Falls, Ontario

• Wendy's features French fries as its primary side item (the recipe was modified in 2010^[17]), but also offers a number of options for side items including salads, chili, wraps and baked potatoes. In several markets the customer may request any of these be substituted for fries in their value meals.
• Frosty dessert – a frozen dairy dessert sold in chocolate and vanilla flavors. The Frosty flavors are also sold as a float. Recently, Frosty Shakes – a Frosty blended with either vanilla bean, strawberry, chocolate fudge, Caramel and Wild Berry Syrups and topped with Syrup and whipped topping – have been served at Wendy's. In 2011 Wendy's discontinued the Twisted Frosty, in place introduced Frosty Parfaits, they come in Caramel Apple and Chocolate Oreo
• In Costa Rica, gallo pinto is available. Gallo pinto is a breakfast dish made with fried rice and black beans.
• In Japan, Wendy's offered a red bean paste and cheese sandwich called an "An" Burger (あんバーガー anbāgā). They also served several types of teriyaki burgers.^[18]
• Big Classic – A sandwich that directly competes with the Burger King Whopper. Mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup and onions served on a Kaiser-style roll. A second version with bacon is available, called the Big Bacon Classic, which was replaced with the Bacon Deluxe in 2009 when the Applewood Smoked Bacon was introduced.
• Baconator – Single Baconator is one 1/4-pound patty topped with mayonnaise, ketchup, three strips of bacon and one slice of cheese; Double Baconator has mayonnaise, ketchup, six strips of bacon, two 1/4-pound (113.4 gram) patties and two slices of American cheese; and the Triple Baconator (1360 calories) is three 1/4-pound patties with nine strips of bacon, three slices of cheese, mayonnaise, and ketchup.
• The Double Stack was Wendy's $0.99 double cheeseburger. It comes with two 1.78-ounce patties, American cheese, ketchup, two pickles, two onions and mustard on a small bun. It was on the menu in the 1980s and 1990s, replaced with the $1.29 "Stack Attack" for several years, and brought back in late 2008. At one point, the Double Stack was $1.29 in most locations. In August 2011, the Double Stack was discontinued in Canadian restaurants and a new burger called the Cheesy Cheddarburger (sold in America and Canada) was brought in to replace it.
• In December 2006, Wendy's phased out and stopped offering their fried "homestyle" chicken strips in most U.S. locations. There is now a chicken club combo in the strips' place, which features a homestyle chicken breast with Swiss cheese, three strips of bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise. Wendy's also offers the spicy or grilled chicken fillet sandwich, which comes with either honey mustard or mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomato. The homestyle chicken strips are still available in Canada.
• Outlets in North Carolina and South Carolina offer a sandwich called the Carolina Classic. The sandwich consists of a single quarter pound patty of beef, topped with chili, coleslaw, onion, and mustard.
• On July 9, 2010, Wendy's began serving four salads, including Apple Pecan Chicken, BLT Cobb, Baja Salad, and Spicy Chicken Caesar throughout the U.S. Also the Berry Almond chicken and Asian Firecracker salads are available in select areas.^[10]
• In February 2011, Wendy's changed the chicken club sandwich to the "Asiago Ranch" removing Swiss cheese from the menu. Mayonnaise was replaced with ranch, and the sandwich is available with the Homestyle, spicy or grilled chicken.
• In September 2011, Wendy's replaced their then-current meat with Dave's Hot 'N Juicy. A 4 oz. Thick Cut patty was introduced for premium sandwiches,^[12] and the chain replaced 1.78 oz. with 2.25 oz. for Value sandwiches. This was part of the chain's attempt to totally revamp its cheeseburgers.
• In November 2011, Wendy's introduced a signature sandwich to directly compete with McDonald's Big Mac and Burger King's Whopper known as The "W". This sandwich featured two all-beef square patties on a butter-toasted bun along with a signature sauce.
• In April 2012, Wendy's introduced poutines to their menu in Canada.

Advertising[link]

After successful early growth of the chain, sales flattened as the company struggled to achieve brand differentiation in the highly competitive fast-food market. This situation would turn around in the mid-1980s. Starting on January 9, 1984, elderly actress Clara Peller was featured in the successful "Where's the Beef?" North American commercial campaign written by Cliff Freeman. Her famous line quickly entered the American pop culture (it was even used by Walter Mondale in a debate with Gary Hart in the Democratic primary election) and served to promote Wendy's hamburgers. Peller, age 84, was dropped from the campaign in 1985 because she performed in a commercial for Prego spaghetti sauce, saying she "finally found" the beef.^[19]

Peller was soon after replaced by a much less successful "give a little nibble" campaign, which was in turn replaced by Wendy's founder Dave Thomas himself. Soft-spoken and bashful, the "Dave" ads generally focused on Thomas praising his products and offering a commitment to quality service, although there would occasionally be "wackier" ads as well. In 1997, the company pulled its advertising from the sitcom Ellen after the show's main character came out as a lesbian. The result was a boycott initiated by members of the gay community.^[20] After Dave Thomas' death in 2002, Wendy's struggled to find a new advertising campaign. After a round of conventional ads describing the food they serve, in 2004 they tried using a character they made called "Mr. Wendy" who claimed to be the unofficial spokesperson for the chain. These proved to be extremely unsuccessful. After seven months, Wendy's returned to a campaign focusing on the difference between Wendy's square hamburgers and the round hamburgers of competitors.

Wendy's marketing arm engages in product placement in films and television and is sometimes seen on ABC's reality show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, serving food to the more than 100 construction workers. A recent Wendy's commercial features the tune from the Violent Femmes song "Blister in the Sun."

With their recent "That's right." ad campaign not a success, Wendy's unveiled a new ad campaign, featuring an animated Wendy that's voiced by Luci Christian highlighting certain menu items. The new ad campaign made its debut in late January 2008, with a new slogan: "It's waaaay better than fast food. It's Wendy's."^[21] The company's most recent slogan, "you know when it's real," was introduced in 2009.

The chain's newest TV ad campaign, launched in 2011 alongside the introduction of the new "Dave's Hot 'N Juicy" hamburgers, features the chain's namesake Wendy Thomas.

Wendy's is the official sponsor of ESPN Football Friday every Friday during football season, getting fans ready with shows throughout the day previewing the upcoming college and NFL games. Also, Wendy's is the sponsor of the NBC Sunday Night Football Postgame show.

Slogans[link]

North America[link]

• 1969–present: Quality Is Our Recipe (this slogan is still shown on the Wendy's logo today.)
• 1978–1979: Juicy hamburgers
• 1979–1980: Hot-N-Juicy
• 1980–1981: Wendy's Has the Taste You Crave
• 1981–1982: Ain't No Reason to Go Anyplace Else
• 1982–1985: You're Wendy's Kind of People
• 1983–1984: Parts is parts^[5]
• 1984–1986, October 2011 – present: Where's the beef?^[5]
• 1985–1988: Choose Fresh, choose Wendy's^[22] (Originally used alongside "Where's the Beef?")
• 1987–1993: Give a little nibble was to be a catchy phrase that would capture the attention of consumers and help make Wendy's major player on the fast-food scene once again. This television commercial was a flop and sent Wendy's hunting for a new advertising agency.^[23] After a poorly received seven-week run, Wendy's pulled the television commercials^[24] created by Dick Rich Inc.^[25][26] The "nibble" spots were meant to emphasize Wendy's better-tasting hamburger. They showed customers ripping off chunks of meat from an absurdly large hamburger.
• 1988–1992: The best burgers in the business.
• 1989–1998: The best burgers and a whole lot more (also was printed inside the hamburger wrappers during the 1990s)
• 1996–1998: The Best Burgers Yet!!
• 1997–present: You can eat great, even late
• 1999–2005: It's hamburger bliss. (+ "We Don't Cut Corners" (at least a slogan in Canada around the same time)
• 2002–2005: It's better here^[27]
• 2003–2007: It's Always Great, Even Late. (Canada)
• 2005–2007: Do what tastes right. (primary slogan)
• 2005–present: It's good to be square.
• January 2007 – October 2007: That's right.
• January 2007 – October 2007: Uh Huh.
• 2007–2008: Hot Juicy Burgers
• January 2008 – October 2009: It's waaay better than fast food... It's Wendy's. (US)
• January 2008 – October 2009: It's waaaaaaaaaay delicious. It's Wendy's. (Canada)
• January 2008 – October 2009: Carrément bon. C'est Wendy's. (EN: "Squarely good. It's Wendy's.") (Quebec, Canada)
• October 2009 – April 2012: You know when it's real.
• April 2012 – present: Now that's better.
• 2009–present: "Wendy's, Sabor al cuadrado" (Mexico)

International[link]

• 1983–present: It's the best time for...Wendy's (Philippines)
• 2000 (approx) – present: Quality is our recipe (New Zealand and Indonesia)
• 2000 (approx) – present: Wendy's cuadra contigo (Wendy's fits with you). The word cuadra (fit) is a reference to the Spanish word cuadrado that means square. (Venezuela)
• 2001 (approx) – present: El Sabor de lo Recien Hecho (The Flavor of the Freshly Made) (Honduras)
• 2007 (approx) – 2009: Wendy's es Sensacional (Wendy's is Sensational) (El Salvador)
• 2008–present: It's not just fast food; it's fresh food, made fast (Malaysia)
• 2008–present: Old Fashion Hamburgers (Dominican Republic)
• 2009–present: Es Muuuuucho Más Que Comída Rapida, Es Wendy's (It's waaay better than fast food... It's Wendy's.) (El Salvador)
• 2011–present: T&T, Meet Wendy (Trinidad and Tobago)^[28][29]

Global locations[link]

Locations of Wendy's Red = current, Orange = former

Countries with Wendy's[link]

Countries formerly with Wendy's[link]

See also[link]

• Wendy's High School Heisman (student-athletes in various sports)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikinews has news related to: Chili Finger Incident

Wikinews has news related to: Wendy's

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wendy's

• Wendy's USA official website
• Wendy's Canada official website
• Wendy's official mobile website
• Wendy's official breakfast website

Sister Wendy Beckett (born 25 February 1930), commonly known as just Sister Wendy, is a South African-born British nun, art expert, consecrated virgin and contemplative hermit who became well known in the 1990s presenting a series of art history documentaries for the BBC.

Life and work[link]

Beckett was born in South Africa and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, where her father studied medicine. In 1946, she entered the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, a religious congregation of the Roman Catholic Church. She was sent to England where she completed her novitiate and then studied at St Anne's College, Oxford University, where she was awarded a first class (with distinction) degree in English literature.^[1] Outside her academic work, she lived in a convent which maintained the strict code of silence typical in convents prior to the reforms following the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965).

After attending the I.M Marsh Teacher Training College, in suburban south Liverpool and earning a teaching diploma in 1954, she returned to South Africa to teach at Notre Dame Convent, a school for girls in Constantia, Cape Town, where she taught English and Latin. Later she moved to Johannesburg where she was appointed the superior of the local convent, while she also lectured at the University of the Witwatersrand. In 1970, health problems forced her to abandon teaching and return to England.

At that point, she obtained papal permission to leave her congregation and to become a consecrated virgin. Her former congregation then arranged for her to live under the protection of the Carmelite nuns at their monastery at Quidenham, Norfolk, in the east of England. There she leads a contemplative lifestyle and lives in a caravan on the grounds. Besides receiving the Carmelite prioress and a nun who brings her provisions, she dedicates her life solely to monastic solitude and prayer but allows herself two hours of work per day. She spent many years translating Medieval Latin scripts before deciding, in 1980, to pursue art, her favourite subject.

Sister Wendy Contemplates Saint Paul in Art was published in 2008 to celebrate the Year of Saint Paul. In May 2009, Encounters with God: In Quest of the Ancient Icons of Mary was published, which follows Beckett's pilgrimage to see the earliest icons of Mary which had survived the Byzantine iconoclasm.

Beckett continued writing about her interest in icons in the second volume of her Sister Wendy Contemplates series, published in July 2011. This book, entitled The Iconic Jesus, takes the reader through scenes from the New Testament, accompanied by Sister Wendy's reflections. Her next book, also published in 2011, "The Christ Journey", consists of her commentaries on the artwork of Greg Tricker.

When she required treating as an outpatient at a local hospital, the television chef Delia Smith volunteered, through a mutual friend, to drive her there each week. When Sister Wendy was writing her book about contemporary women artists, Delia Smith drove her around the country to meet the artists; through this the two became good friends.^[2]

Documentaries and bibliography[link]

Beckett has narrated the following documentaries:

• Sister Wendy's Odyssey (1992)
• Sister Wendy's Pains of Glass (1996)
• Sister Wendy's Grand Tour (1997)
• Sister Wendy's Story of Painting (1997)
• Sister Wendy's American Collection (2001)
• Sister Wendy at the Norton Simon Museum (2001)

and also an audio commentary for tourists to the Sistine Chapel:

• Sister Wendy's Sistine Chapel Artineraries Tour (2006)

Additionally she features in the following:

• Sister Wendy in Conversation with Bill Moyers (1997)
• Three appearances on Charlie Rose (3 October 1997; 18 November 1997; 19 September 2000) are available on DVD.
• The Art of Dying (2009) (Dan Cruickshank interviewed Sister Wendy on the helpfulness of art in the face of death^[3])
• Churches: How to Read Them (2010) (Richard Taylor and Sister Wendy discussed the intense medieval devotion to the Virgin Mary and its effect on Reformation^[4])
• Treasures of Heaven (2011) (Andrew Graham-Dixon talked to Sister Wendy about relics and reliquaries^[5])

Bibliography:

• 2011
  • The Christ Journey - the art of Greg Tricker.
• 2011
  • Sister Wendy Contemplates the Iconic Jesus
• 2009
  • Encounters With God: In Quest of Ancient Icons of Mary
• 2008
  • Bernard of Clairvaux: Sermons for Advent And the Christmas Season

    with John Leinenweber (Editor), Irene Edmonds (Translator), Wendy Mary Beckett (Translator), Conrad Greenia (Translator)

• 2007
  • Sister Wendy on Prayer
  • Sister Wendy's Meditations on the Mysteries of Our Faith
• 2006
  • Speaking to the Heart: 100 Favorite Poems
  • Sky-blue Is the Sapphire Crimson the Rose: Stillpoint of Desire in John of Forde by John, abbot of Forde, translated by Wendy Beckett
  • Joy Lasts: On the Spiritual in Art
• 2001
  • Sister Wendy's Impressionist Masterpieces
  • Sister Wendy's American Masterpieces
• 2000
  • Sister Wendy's American Collection
  • In the Midst of Chaos, Peace (with Mary J. Dorcy and Dan Paulos)
  • Sister Wendy's Book of Muses (with Justin Pumfrey)
• 1999
  • Sister Wendy's 1,000 Masterpieces (with Patricia Wright)
  • My Favourite Things: 75 Works of Art from Around the World
• 1998
  • Sister Wendy's Nativity
  • Inner Life: A Fellow Traveler's Guide to Prayer (by David Torkington; foreword by Sister Wendy)
  • Sister Wendy's Odyssey: A Journey of Artistic Discovery
  • Sister Wendy's Book of Meditations
  • Sister Wendy's Book of Saints
  • The Mystery of Love: Saints in Art Through the Ages
• 1997
  • Sister Wendy's Story of Christmas: Adventures in Art
  • Sister Wendy in Conversation with Bill Moyers: The Complete Conversation (edited by Karen Johnson)
  • The Wisdom of the Apostles (compiled by Philip Law; introduction by Sister Wendy)
  • The Duke and the Peasant: Life in the Middle Ages (with Jean De Berry)
  • Max Beckmann and the Self
• 1996
  • Sister Wendy's Grand Tour: Discovering Europe's Great Art
  • Pains of Glass: The Story of the Passion from King's College Chapel, Cambridge (with George Pattison)
• 1995
  • Sister Wendy's Meditations: Meditations on Joy
  • Sister Wendy's Meditations: Meditations on Love
  • Sister Wendy's Meditations: Meditations on Peace
  • Sister Wendy's Meditations: Meditations on Silence
  • A Child's Book of Prayer in Art
• 1994
  • The Story of Painting
  • The Gaze of Love: Meditations on Art and Spiritual Transformation
• 1993
  • The Mystical Now: Art and the Sacred

Works about her by other people[link]

• Postcards From God: The Sister Wendy Musical was written by Marcus Reeves and Beccy Smith^[6] and performed at the Jermyn Street Theatre in the West End in 2007 and Hackney Empire Studio Theatre in 2008.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Wendy Beckett

• Sister Wendy at PBS.
• Interview with Sister Wendy