Fast-food brand using the first "drive-in window": The story of Wendy's

On November 15, 1969, Dave Thomas opened the first Wendy's restaurant in Columbus, Ohio. The fast-serving chain soon became known for its square beef patties made from fresh beef and the iconic Frosty® desserts. Thomas named the restaurant after his fourth child, Melinda Lou "Wendy" Thomas.

In his autobiography, Thomas wrote that he regretted naming the restaurant after his daughter because he "lost some of his privacy" when the restaurant became a fast food empire, and many assumed that his daughter was the official spokesperson for the company.

Wendy's introduced the world to the first modern driveway with Dave Thomas inventing the "Pick-Up Window". This innovation was so revolutionary that customers needed instructions on how to speak through the speaker to place an order. Originally called the "drive-in window", Thomas wanted to change the name to attract the attention of cruisers and recreational drivers. 

In 1976, Wendy's opened the first international Wendy's restaurant in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, bringing beef to Canada. In April 1977, Wendy's brought its commercials to the small screen. And it made a name for itself as the first fast-food chain to launch a national advertising campaign with less than 1,000 restaurants.

In March 1978, Wendy's opened its 1,000th restaurant in Springfield, Tennessee. It broke the record as the company's 1000th restaurant in just 100 months. In 1979, Wendy's became the first fast-food chain to introduce its salad bar. In 1980, the 2,000th Wendy's restaurant opened and it was a turning point for Wendy's. It also entered the Asian market, opening its first restaurants in Japan in 1980, Hong Kong in 1982, and the Philippines and Singapore in 1983. Baked potatoes joined the menu in 1983. The restaurant's baked potatoes saw huge success in the '80s as the always catchy "hot-stuffed".

In February 1985, the 3,000th Wendy's restaurant opened in New Orleans' French Quarter. Thus, the future of more was predicted. However, in response to the slowdown in the chain's performance in 1986, Wendy's required stores to meet the parent company's goals and standards so that its franchises could compete in the market. For this reason, it has restructured its cleaning standards, menu and other operational details. Wendy's also decided to close all its outlets in Hong Kong in 1986 and Singapore the following year.

Wendy's was the first restaurant to introduce the Super Value Menu concept and debuted with nine items offered daily for 99¢. Menu offerings rotated based on what customers wanted. This was a point that attracted the attention of customers. In 1989, Wendy's opened its first restaurant in Greece, in Syntagma Square, the first foreign fast-food chain in the country. After opening 12 restaurants in 3 cities, although it was a very successful and profitable business at the time, the company left the Greek market in 2002 due to disagreements with the local franchisee. In 1998, Wendy's withdrew from South Korea, closing all 15 of its restaurants, and split from the UK, Argentina and Hong Kong in 2000.

In January 2002, at the age of 69, Wendy's founder, Dave Thomas, passed away. Dave developed a passion for the quick service restaurant industry at a young age and spent most of his life working to grow Wendy's business. In 2011, Wendy returned to Japan and Argentina, announcing a development deal for 50 restaurants in the country. It also entered the Russian market for the first time, planning to open 180 restaurants in 10 years. But just three years later, in 2014, Wendy's closed all of its restaurants in the country.

In 2013, Wendy's opened the first restaurant in Georgia and signed an agreement to open 25 restaurants in Georgia and the Republic of Azerbaijan. As part of its brand transformation, Wendy's raised the face of the brand and introduced a new contemporary logo to keep up with the rest of its evolving brand image. This was the first major logo change in 30 years.

In September 2014, several pork-based products were introduced, to be available until the beginning of November. In May 2015, Wendy's also announced that they would expand into India with their first point of sale located in Gurgaon. In 2015, the brand opened 80 new restaurants and reorganized 450 of its existing locations. The brand's goal was to remodel at least 60% of its North American locations by the end of 2020.

In September 2016, JAE Restaurant Group acquired 97 Wendy's restaurants in the South Florida area. JAE Restaurant Group was one of the nation's largest franchise owners and owned 177 Wendy's restaurants. The Group wanted to remodel its existing stores and increase the attractiveness of its locations. It also planned to do this by adding fireplaces, more seating options, WiFi and flat-screen TVs and digital menus.

In 2017, the company sold 540 restaurants. The divestment was the second step in a three-step action plan to improve the brand. In December 2017, Wendy's announced a partnership with DoorDash for food distribution in the United States. In October 2019, Wendy's announced its return to the UK market.

The first of the 20 planned restaurants was scheduled to open in Stoke-on-Trent in 2020, but it was later announced that the first location would be Reading, Berkshire. The Reading restaurant opened on June 2, 2021. In January 2021, Wendy's announced that, following the bankruptcy of franchise owner NPC Quality Burgers Inc., half of NPC's outlets would be acquired by Flynn Restaurant.

Wendy's, which provides well-loved healthy menus, hamburgers and breakfasts in most parts of the world, has come to an important place for fast food with the help of its dealer partners, dedicated restaurant team, support center team and supplier partners. Also, every November, the Wendy's Family would gather to celebrate and honor founder Dave Thomas and the founding of the first Wendy's restaurant in 1969.