Wendy's

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Re: Wendy's

Post by storewanderer »

Alpha8472 wrote: March 29th, 2019, 7:40 pm Wendy's seems popular in my area, but only due to the fact the only other burger competition is Burger King.

Some Wendy's have added self checkout using large touch screens that look like tablet computers. I have seen a row of 3 on a counter apart from the regular cash registers. They took cards but no cash. The cups were on the counter and were self serve. With this format they are going to lose a lot of money with people helping themselves to free drinks.

Wendy's keeps a rotating variety of new sandwiches, which makes them a little more appealing than Burger King. Burger King has not come out with anything exciting in years.
McDonalds are supposed to have the cups self serve for the self order kiosks too, but the locations rarely put them out self serve due to the theft issues.

There is one Wendy's in Reno with self order kiosks and it does not have self serve cups. Their self order kiosk also has no way to process coupons (including app offers) and is actually missing a number of menu items as well. For instance the self order kiosk only has a "grilled wrap kid's meal" but if you go to the regular register or to the app you can get that wrap kid's meal in grilled, homestyle, or spicy.

Wendy's seems to just be better quality than the others. Their fried chicken sandwiches are pressure fried and it really makes a difference in the quality of the sandwich. I've had some that are off but generally they are excellent. Offering side salads and baked potatoes also helps to make for a better variety of side item offerings than the usual fries.
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Re: Wendy's

Post by Super S »

Alpha8472 wrote: March 29th, 2019, 7:40 pm Wendy's seems popular in my area, but only due to the fact the only other burger competition is Burger King.

Some Wendy's have added self checkout using large touch screens that look like tablet computers. I have seen a row of 3 on a counter apart from the regular cash registers. They took cards but no cash. The cups were on the counter and were self serve. With this format they are going to lose a lot of money with people helping themselves to free drinks.

Wendy's keeps a rotating variety of new sandwiches, which makes them a little more appealing than Burger King. Burger King has not come out with anything exciting in years.
It doesn't take much to have better food than Burger King. Burger King suffers from cooking batches of food ahead of time and reheating things in the microwave. Not only is it inconsistent, it just doesn't taste fresh. Wendy's as well as most fast food chains now make most sandwiches as they are ordered. Burger King is still stuck in a different era of fast food.

I have purchased food from convenience stores that is higher quality than what Burger King offers.

Burger King really needs to revamp their operations. They have been on a remodeling spree in my area the last few years, and while the restaurants are nicer, the food is still not very good.

Wendy's has yet to install kiosks in my area. I have seen them at McDonald's and am generally not impressed by them.
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Re: Wendy's

Post by Bagels »

Most Wendy’s earn only 30%-40% of the revenue that a nearby McDonald’s earns. McDonalds franchisees are so profitable that McDonalds is forcing them to undergo a renovations that cost around $2M. Wendy’s tried to make its franchisees undergo a $1M renovation, but they balked and the chain offered packages as low as $200K, or $400K with a double drive through. Even then, many franchisees have been reluctant to proceed.
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Re: Wendy's

Post by Alpha8472 »

An ancient 70s era Wendy's near me closed rather than remodel. It became El Pollo Loco.

Another Wendy's one city over also closed, but did not become another restaurant. The location was old and in need of major plumbing repairs. The only other competition is a newly remodeled Jack In The Box.

One Wendy's in my area remodeled. It is the only one that bothered to remodel. That was only because the Taco Bell across the street remodeled to the newest decor.

This Wendy's has a fireplace and a new 2 story high front facade. It is also across the street from a 24 hour casino. This is the oldest continuously operating card room in the world. It dates back to the 1800s. If it were not for the casino, this Wendy's would probably shut down. Wendy's is not as liked as McDonald's.

There is one Wendy's in my city that is very busy, but it has not remodeled. The last remodel was around 2004. It still looks very new.

The Burger King across the street is remodeling right now. If Wendy's loses business, Wendy's might be tempted to remodel as well.
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Re: Wendy's

Post by storewanderer »

It is funny but I think Wendy's has a pretty good product. I wish they would do a little better on food temperature, but the .99 or 1.09 Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger and a .99 Jr. Fries is still a solid light meal at an incredibly low cost. Also sub out the fries for a 1.29 baked potato and actually you have a quite substantial meal at a very low cost. They have three franchisees in my area and two of the franchisees execute it pretty well and put out a decent product in a consistently clean facility. The third franchisee is poor and I avoid their locations other than a couple times a year when it is convenient and I remind myself why I avoid their locations. Also, the Wendys spicy chicken sandwich (the 4.29 or 4.79 one depending on location) seems to be best in class and they are the only burger chain that pressure fries their chicken and it really helps with the texture and flavor.

So far in Reno area, Wendys has been pretty active on remodels:

Two mid 90's build locations in Reno (N. Hills Blvd. and Northtowne Lane) are run by two different franchisees but they remodeled in tandem and these remodels were done a couple years ago and very complete with the fireplace inside and were really nicely done.

Two 70's build locations in Reno and Sparks (Kietzke Lane, and N. McCarran Blvd.) also run by the two different franchisees described above were remodeled a few months before the "modern fireplace" look Wendys, so they have no exterior modifications but were at least freshened up inside and have self serve drinks now.

Also out in Sparks a new build Wendy's just opened. This is the first new build Wendy's I've seen here since the mid 90's. I also observed a new Wendy's opening in Auburn, CA in a former Del Taco building (not sure how it will do, but we will see).

Then there is a third franchisee, who was obviously struggling (had previously closed two mid 90's build locations about a decade ago), and I think may have sold their locations finally to someone else, but not much seems to have changed. They were left with one Wal Mart location, one gas station location, one mid 90's location, and two 70's locations. All locations were in extreme disrepair, not run well, and pretty low volume. A full remodel (fireplace and all) was done on the mid 90's Carson City location. More recently, they did remodels on the two 70's locations. I suspect Wendy's told them remodel or close up shop. These remodels are very basic, the front of the buildings got some work but the sides did not really get much. Inside the locations the dining areas got remodeled but it is very basic; the prep areas look the same as before (old and grimy). This must be the cheaper remodel. They have not done anything to the gas station or Wal Mart locations (other than replaced the chairs in the Wal Mart one, with chairs that look like they came right out of Wal Mart).
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Re: Wendy's

Post by Bagels »

Most of the Wendy's I visited have aging interiors, most commonly the vintage 1980s (1970s?) design that make me reminisce over the Super Bar! Just pulling some quick numbers, it looks like the chain added 2,000 domestic restaurants in the 1990s, bringing its total count to around 6,000 ... where it remains today, twenty years later. Naturally, lots of aging interiors! The chain has been pushing low cost build-outs in recent years, encouraging potential franchisees to renovate incumbent buildings as opposed to building new ones, including those in strip malls. It's also encouraging franchisees to build hybrid Wendy's/gas station convenience stores, which have significantly lower build out costs (since it's being shared) and operating costs. In other words... they'll take what they can get.

I really don't think Wendy's is pushing franchisees to renovate. Most of its locations earn revenues in the ballpark of $1M annually, and many operators simply can't afford the renovation cost. To encourage franchisees to renovate its aging restaurants, Wendy's has been permitting operators to select their own interior designs, as long as they fit the theme of the chain.

I use to do the books for a Wendy's operator who had a handful of restaurants. In his market, somebody created a new fast food concept, got some investor cash, and opened up several more restaurants,that of course went bankrupt. Well, the Wendy's operator purchased a lot of their equipment, furniture and fixtures at a liquidation sale, then used them for his stores (along with new paint and new flooring). Of course, Wendy's approved this under the condition that he update the front exterior of his restaurants to the current design. Alas, he had vintage Wendy's signs with current logos, an updated front exterior, and the "old" exterior in the back, along with a custom interior. But hey, it was an improvement over the old!

I also agree that Wendy's has the best, least expensive food of any chain. Most restaurants will even allow substitutions on the 4-for-$4. I frequently get a Double Stack, small chili, half-sized premium salad (+$1.50 at a local Wendy's) and small frosty for $5.50. That's two quality lunches for less than $3 each including tax...
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Re: Wendy's

Post by SamSpade »

Alpha8472 wrote: December 30th, 2019, 10:15 pm An ancient 70s era Wendy's near me closed rather than remodel. It became El Pollo Loco.
LUCKY!

Isn't 2020 the year that Wendy's is supposed to return to serving breakfast at (a majority of) its locations?
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Re: Wendy's

Post by Super S »

SamSpade wrote: December 31st, 2019, 8:25 am
Isn't 2020 the year that Wendy's is supposed to return to serving breakfast at (a majority of) its locations?
Supposedly. We'll see what happens. Hopefully they can stick to it this time.
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Re: Wendy's

Post by cjd »

Here there were once two Wendy's in town, but now just one. The one that closed was a 1970s location that had never really had a remodel, it closed about 5 years ago. It was since gutted and converted to a Popeye's Chicken.

The location that remains is an early 2000s outparcel location. It has not had a remodel which is very unusual since I can't think of any locations I've been to that have not gotten the wood tile and fireplace look. It did get a repaint a year or two ago on the inside but that's all that changed. However it is by no means anywhere rundown or dirty, it has a great staff, and the food is always quite good. It can be a bit slow in evenings when the supper crowd comes in, but otherwise things always move quickly.

I don't eat fast food as much lately, but I don't go to Wendy's very often because it's on the other end of town. If there was one on this end, I would probably chose it over any of the other places.
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Re: Wendy's

Post by Brian Lutz »

As noted above most of the Wendy's locations around here are either remodeled or in new builds (one location in a former Rax in Kirkland was torn down and rebuilt, another in Renton closed and moved to a new build in a different location nearby) but there's still not much in the way of consistency. There's one on Evergreen Way in Everett that did an interior and partial exterior remodel but opted to keep their "Old-Fashioned Hamburgers" signage on the building. Service can also be inconsistent from one restaurant to another, which often seems to be the result of understaffing (My guess is that some of them, especially in less densely populated areas, are having trouble finding enough workers.)
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