We mentioned, in the most recent Fast Food Week roundup of Quick Serve Resto and Snacks news, that Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers celebrated it’s 50th year in business this last week, on November 15. But it turns out that Wendy’s almost wasn’t ‘Wendy’s’ at all!
Wendy, age 8, at the grand opening of the original Columbus, OH, restaurant…
Lots of businesses are named after their owners or originators. I have no proof, but I’m willing to bet there are more food companies and restaurants named after their founders than any other kind of business. Perhaps the best known of these is Burger behemoth McDonald’s, named after the two brothers, Mac and Richard, who started the take-out stand back in 1948 in San Bernardino, CA. Everyone knows they partnered with former Milkshake Mixer salesman Ray Kroc and he took the brand world-wide through franchising. But one thing he never tinkered with was the name. When the name is the brand, you tread lightly and with reverence.
Wendy’s débuted in 1969 when founder Dave Thomas opened his first location in Columbus, OH, and, from that humble beginning, Wendy’s grew to become the world’s third-largest Burger Chain. Unlike McDonald’s, Dave remained in direct charge of his brand, even starring in his commercials, until he passed away in 2002. Very much like McDonald’s, Dave was extremely careful about the name of his restaurant.
Wendy Thomas, Dave’s daughter, after whom he named the chain, recalls the first indication she had of her dad’s plans for creating the brand, right down to the hairstyle:
“He wanted a character, because he worked for the Colonel at Kentucky Fried Chicken and knew how much that persona mattered,” Wendy told Food and Wine . “He said, ‘Wendy, pull your hair up in pigtails.’ So, I did. He got his camera and took pictures of me and my sister and said, ‘Yep, it’s going to be Wendy’s Old-Fashioned Hamburgers.'”
And, yes, that really is an illustration of the ‘real Wendy’ that graces every sign and piece of packaging you see across the Burger empire that now numbers 6,711 outlets at last official count. It’s a far cry from McDonald’s 37,241, but nothing to sneeze at, nonetheless.
Regrets? He had a few…
Wendy Thomas recalls that her dad did reveal some regrets about naming the restaurant after her, shortly after her death.
“Before my dad left us, we had a long conversation about him naming the restaurant Wendy’s,” she recalled. “It was the first time we’d ever had this conversation. He said, ‘You know what? I’m sorry.’ I asked him what he meant. He explained, ‘I should’ve just named it after myself, because it put a lot of pressure on you.’ I responded, ‘Yeah, it is a lot of pressure.'”
But she hastened to add that the pressure was not that of going through life as the living embodiment of the brand, dealing with the inevitable personal issues.
“I have to do the right thing, because it’s the legacy I have to carry on. I want to do the right thing by him, because he worked really hard to start this,” she explains. “I know he’s been gone almost 20 years, but he’s still working.”
On the other hand, having her name on a global Burger legend does have its advantages.
“Sometimes, if I need a reservation, it helps!”
Now, here’s the kicker
Wendy’s real name isn’t ‘Wendy’ at all. She was born Melinda Thomas in 1961 but soon was going by the less-pretentious nick name ‘Wendy’. Which was just fine with her. Turns out that Dave auditioned all five of his kids’ names before settling on ‘Wendy’s’. It might have been, Molly’s, Lori’s, Pam’s, or Ken’s !
~ Maggie J.