A Review Of Wendys

A Review Of Wendys Executive Summary Wendys Old Fashioned Hamburgers is an international fast food chain restaurant founded by Dave Thomason November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio, and moved headquarters to Dublin, Ohio on January 29, 2006. Wendys was Americas national food, and the worlds third largest hamburger fast food chain with approximately 6,700 locations. On April 24, 2008, the company announced a merger with Triarc, the parent company of Arbys. Following the merger, Triarc became known as Wendy’s/Arby’s Group. Wendy’s/Arby’s Group is the parent company of Wendy’s, and is a publicly traded company. Arby’s Restaurant Group, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wendy’s/Arby’s Group, Inc. This report will be focusing on Wendy’s Burgers of the Wendy’s/Arby’s Group. The main aim of this report is to investigate and analyze the marketing activities of Wendy’s Burgers. What is the Wendy’s orientation? What are t he strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of Wendy’s? What are the competitive advantages of Wendy’s? What is the impact of Wendy’s marketing mix? This report will try to address the above questions and more. INTRODUCTION Wendy’s/Arby’s Group 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. Wendy’s ended 2007 with just under 6000 Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers restaurants in operation. Of these, 1,274 (21%) were company owned and operated while the remaining 4,662 restaurants were franchised. In addition to Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers, Wendy’s is invested in the Cafe Express and Pasta Pomodoro restaurant chains, owning 70% and 29% of those chains, respectively. Until 2006 Wendy’s International Inc. also owned the Tim Hortons and Baja Fresh franchises. The chain is known for its square ground beef hamburgers and the Frosty, a form of soft serve ice cream mixed with frozen starches contracted from potato products. The idea for Wendy’s â€Å"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. Thomas named the restaurant after his fourth childMelinda Lou â€Å"Wendy† Thomas. WENDY’S ORIENTATION Nature of demand Ov er the century, market for fast food has increased drastically, time being one of the major constraints. A recession in the early 1980s, combined with high beef prices and Wendy’s explosive as well as threatening growth incited the â€Å"burger wars.† Wendy’s moved into the number three spot behind McDonald’s and Burger King, fuelled by its introduction of a chain wide salad bar, chicken breast sandwiches, and baked potatoes.