Wendy's history

Thomas opened a second location just one year later and began franchising his idea in 1972.

By the end of 1974 the chain's net income topped $1 million, and total sales reached almost $25 million.

In 1975, Wendy’s launched its first restaurant in Hamilton, Canada, before spreading out into the rest of the globe.

By 1976, Wendy's had opened or franchised five hundred restaurants, including some in Canada.

The company's first nationally televised commercial, titled "Hot 'n Juicy," aired in April 1977.

In 1978, the 1,000th Wendy's opened, in Springfield, Tennessee, not far from the site of Thomas' first job.

1980 marked the milestone of 2,000 Wendy’s restaurants…and counting.

In 1981 the newly assertive company switched gears, debuting a glitzy Hollywood-style campaign that had employees and customers singing the jingle "Wendy's Has the Taste." A salad bar and chicken sandwich were featured in the advertising.

The company's next campaign, "Wendy's Kind of People," debuted in June 1982.

In the summer of 1983 Wendy's entered what were called the burger wars with a series of biting ads depicting the customer as a victim of "those other hamburger places." Hapless consumers were ordered to "step aside" or "park it" and wait for "frozen stiff" hamburgers.

Founded in Houston in 1984, Café Express was an "upscale bistro" featuring pastas, salads, sandwiches, roasted chicken, soups, side dishes, and an "Oasis Bar" where customers could customize their food with a variety of condiments.

These new products and the phenomenal success of the "Where's the Beef?" campaign catapulted Wendy's to a record $76.2 million earnings in 1985.

In 1986 the chain introduced sit-down breakfasts featuring omelettes and French toast.

In June 1987 Wendy's introduced the "Hamburger A, Hamburger B" campaign, in which an interviewer asked people to choose between a fresh Wendy's hamburger and an unappealing hamburger made from frozen beef, presumably produced by one of the chain's rivals.

In 1989, Near was given the title of CEO and was named chairman two years later.

With Thomas's return—and an aggressive quality control initiative that saw him spending 35 weeks a year schmoozing with franchisees—systemwide sales jumped to more than $3 billion in 1990, a 29 percent increase from the year before.

His blend of folksy charm and down-home homilies gave Wendy's campaigns their unique appeal and made him one of advertising's icons. "More than anything, I'm a marketer," Thomas confessed in his 1991 memoir, Dave's Way.

Since its founding in 1992, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption has been Wendy’s charity of choice.

In 1993, Dave Thomas received his high school equivalency certificate and shared with 2,500 graduating seniors that he felt his biggest mistake was not finishing high school.

Wendy’s celebrated its milestone 25th birthday with the best present ever – all-time record systemwide sales of $4.2 billion in 1994.

December 1995 is an important milestone in Wendy’s history.

Fresh Stuffed Pitas were initially test-marketed in Norfolk, Virginia, and Omaha, Nebraska, in January 1996.

Enrico, Dottie. "Consumers Bought Into Real-World Ads in '97." USA Today, December 29, 1997.

In December 1999 Teter died suddenly at age 56.

In the later 2000’s, Wendy’s began to show milk and apple slices as the featured beverage and side pairing in its Kids’ Meals.

In 2001, Wendy’s established an auditing program to monitor, verify and evaluate proper animal handling among our United States and Canadian suppliers.

The first such move came in February 2002, when the company announced that it had spent $10 million for a 45 percent stake in Café Express, a pioneer in the burgeoning fast-casual sector.

It’s no trick that Wendy’s started offering their Halloween-themed Frosty® Coupon Books as a treat in 2003.

Within eight days of the website's launch on April 7, 2004, it had attracted 15 to 20 million hits.

"Good to Be Square" was launched simultaneously with the larger "Do What Tastes Right" effort in mid-May of 2005.

Wendy’s completed its initial public offering of Tim Hortons in March 2006, and later completed its spin-off of the Canadian restaurant chain as a separate public company in September 2006.

A year later, Thomas established Wendy’s Old-Fashioned Hamburger in Columbus, Ohio (that very restaurant was finally shut down in 2007, after 37 years of operation, due to its lagging sales in later years). The long years of hard work and perseverance finally paid off in a really big way.

In 2008, the company merged with Triarc, the parent company of Arby’s Restaurant chain, which is the 2nd largest sandwich provider in the United States.

In 2010, Wendy’s redesigned its classic French fries.

After nearly three years of a corporate shared services division in Atlanta, Wendy’s and Arby’s decided to go their separate ways in 2011.

The small but mighty Son of Baconator was launched in 2012 to give Baconator fans a chance to go big or go small.

Wendy’s opened its flagship restaurant near the Dublin, Ohio headquarters on December 17, 2013.

In 2014, Wendy’s announced a year-long marketing program to tell the story of foster care adoption.

In 2015, meal deals at Wendy’s were changed forever when the 4 for $4 was introduced.

In 2016, Wendy’s broadened communications with customers when it introduced its external blog, The Square Deal.

In 2017, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption announced that their Wendy’s Wonderful Kids® program will be scaled up in key states, promising to dramatically change the lives of tens of thousands of children in foster care over the next 12 years.

In 2018, Wendy’s dropped the hottest mixtape of the year.