Wendy's to shut original restaurant

[DiscGo]

Wendy's to shut original restaurant

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Wendy's International Inc. said Friday that sagging sales will force it to close the restaurant where the nation's third-largest hamburger chain began in 1969.


The iconic restaurant, filled with memorabilia and photographs of the late Wendy's founder, Dave Thomas, will close March 2.

"This is a very difficult decision, but the truth is we kept it open for sentimental reasons much longer than we should have," company spokesman Denny Lynch said.

Thomas, who died in 2002 of liver cancer, opened his first Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers on Nov. 15, 1969. He named the restaurant after his 8-year-old daughter, Melinda Lou, nicknamed Wendy. He later became a nationally known figure as a Wendy's pitchman in television commercials.

But the original restaurant, just a few blocks from the Ohio Statehouse, is unable to generate sufficient sales at night or during weekends, when government buildings are closed, Lynch said.

The restaurant has no drive-through window, has limited parking and soon would have required substantial building improvements, Lynch said. No sales figures were released.

Thomas knew before he died that his first restaurant was struggling, Lynch said.

"I guarantee he would support this decision," Lynch said. "He recognized that a company needs to be profitable."

Employees will be offered jobs at other locations, Lynch said. The company hasn't decided whether it will hold a closing ceremony.

"It's sad to see history disappear," said Mark Barbash, the city's director of development. Wendy's owns the building and the land, and city officials hope to meet with the company to discuss redevelopment ideas.

Memorabilia at the restaurant, including the dress worn by Thomas' daughter when she posed for the restaurant's logo, will be moved to the company's corporate offices in Dublin, a Columbus suburb.

Wendy's operates about 6,600 restaurants in the United States and abroad.

[live2ride]

I used to like it when wendys had the good old salad bar and was also the only fast food restauraunt that would clean up after you. It made it feel like wendys was a little more that any old fast food joint.

[greyhair biker]

I worked at the Wendys in Murray on state and about 5400 so. in highschool...in 1981! ...TO THIS DAY I have a hard time eating a taco salad there or in any Wendys! BE SAFE! eat the chicken...

[DiscGo]

My in-laws live about 2 hours from this Wendys and I always wanted to eat there. Now I feel bad that I missed it.

I eat fast food but the only fast food that I really like is In-N-Out. I do enjoy Wendy's Frosties though.

[live2ride]

Cant go wrong with the frosty, what do you think about the new "vanilla" frosty?

[DiscGo]

I have not even tried it. In my mind a Frosty is chocolate flavored and I won't settle for anything less. You?

[accadacca]

The vanilla isn't bad but the choc is the original and much better. I use to like the salad bar too. What I like about Wendy's is the variety and I love those new frescata sandwiches. Rockgremlin and I worked at the Wendy's on State and 21st in high school. We could write a book on the hell we used to raise at that place...including one of our friends getting in a fist fight with the boss.

[greyhair biker]

Now, I WILL stop for a Frosty, the chocolate one of course. The wendys' up here are terrible so youre taking your life in your hands when you stop

[JP]

And they just built a new one in my town about a year ago. They seemed packed all the time

[sparker1]

We had not been to a Wendy's in years (since they discontinued the salad bar)...until yesterday. The spicy chicken sandwich was good, and some in our party had the frescata sandwiches and enjoyed them. We may go back again before long.

[rockgremlin]

The vanilla isn't bad but the choc is the original and much better. I use to like the salad bar too. What I like about Wendy's is the variety and I love those new frescata sandwiches. Rockgremlin and I worked at the Wendy's on State and 21st in high school. We could write a book on the hell we used to raise at that place...including one of our friends getting in a fist fight with the boss.

Oh ya...good times.

I was pissed when they took away the salad bar, and then when they discontinued their potatoes I (and apparently the rest of the U.S.) complained. I see the potatoes are back on the menu - kudos to Wendy's for listening to the collective voice of reason. Who was the corporate dickhead that decided to remove them in the first place?

[shanehadman]

You can't go wrong with the .99 cent value menu