Dave Thomas - Biography - IMDb Dave Thomas Jump to: Overview (3) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (1) | Trade Mark (1) | Trivia (13) Overview (3) Rex David Thomas Mini Bio (1) Born during the Depression to a dirt-poor single mother in Atlantic City. New Jersey, Dave Thomas was adopted as an infant by a traveling construction worker and his wife. Moving out on his own at age 15, Thomas held a succession of jobs in the food industry, starting out as a busboy and working his way up. A fateful meeting in 1956 with Col. Harland Sanders , founder of the Kentucky Fried Chicken chain, led to Thomas' investing money in one of Sanders' KFC franchises, which paid off handsomely and made him a millionaire by the time he was 35. In 1969 Thomas decided to strike out on his own and left KFC to start his own chain of fast-food restaurants, Wendy's (named after his daughter, whose name was actually Melinda but whose nickname was Wendy) Hamburgers, in Ohio.

Eventually the chain grew to more than 6000 restaurants, with annual sales revenue topping $6 billion. As successful as his business career was, however, Thomas was even more famous for his appearances in the company's commercials, where he came across as just a regular guy next door who got along with everybody and was the kind of grandfather that everyone wished they'd had--which, according to many who knew and worked with him, was exactly how he was in real life. He never forgot how tough it was to be an adopted kid, and founded the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption to help both adopted children and the families who adopt them. He died of liver cancer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 2002. - IMDb Mini Biography By: frankfob2@yahoo.com Spouse (1) ( 21 May 1954 - 8 January 2002) (his death) (5 children) Trade Mark (1) White shirt and red tie, as seen in his commercials Trivia (13) Dave Thomas Knowledge Base > History > History Dave Thomas David Rex "Dave" Thomas was an American businessman and philanthropist.

Thomas was the founder and chief executive officer of Wendy's, a fast-food restaurant chain specializing in hamburgers. Student at DePaul University majoring in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. Curated Facts "Although Dave was widely popular, he was never very comfortable as a celebrity. He kept reminding us he was simply a hamburger cook," Schuessler said. "He was a humble man who was very comfortable in an apron behind a grill or in a business suit in a board room." Article: Wendy's founder Dave Thom... Since 1989, the folksy Thomas featured prominently in the burger chain's television advertising campaigns. He would eventually star in more than 800 commericals. Article: Wendy's founder Dave Thom... Dave Thomas is a fastfood icon and his face is well-known by many. Choosing to appear in over 800 commercials showed the consumer that they are not buying from some unseen entity, but from a friendly business man. Reply Thomas's adoptive mother died when he was only 5 years old, and as a result, he spent much of his childhood moving from state to state with his father.

During those years, he enjoyed his summers in Michigan with his adoptive grandmother, Minnie Sinclair, whom he credits on the Wendy’s website as one of the major stabilizing forces in his life. Article: 15 Celebs Who Were Adopte... Dave Thomas, 69, Wendy's Founder, Dies - The New York Times The New York Times Business Day |Dave Thomas, 69, Wendy's Founder, Dies Search Continue reading the main story Dave Thomas, an orphan who went to work in restaurants at 12 and by dint of hard work, quality control and shrewd marketing made Wendy's the third-largest hamburger chain in the world, died yesterday. He was 69 and was known to millions as the folksy character who made a low-key personal pitch for his own fast foods in more than 800 television commercials. He died of liver cancer at his home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., according to the company he founded, Wendy's International. He had been undergoing kidney dialysis since early 2001 and had quadruple heart bypass surgery in December 1996. Mr.

Thomas was adopted as a baby, but he lost his adoptive mother when he was 5 and two stepmothers before he was 10. His closest relationship was with his grandmother, with whom he spent summers. He said she had taught him the values he strove to build into Wendy's, particularly her oft-repeated admonition, ''Don't cut corners.'' Hence, the square shape of Wendy's hamburgers. Mr. Thomas became a leading champion for the adoption of foster children, arguing that they needed love in their lives. President George Bush named him as a national spokesman on adoption issues, and when President Clinton signed a bill in 1996 to give parents who adopt children a tax credit, he thanked Mr. Thomas for his leadership. Continue reading the main story Mr. Thomas's greatest fame came from his Horatio Alger-style success story in building an empire of Wendy's restaurants, a dream that began with his frustration at being unable to find a good hamburger in downtown Columbus, Ohio. When he opened his first restaurant, on Nov. 15, 1969, his biggest ambition was that he might eventually expand so he could give each of his five children a place to work in the summer.

Advertisement Continue reading the main story Within less than a decade, there were 1,000 Wendy's, and today there are more than 6,000. The company acquired Tim Hortons, a Canadian coffee and baked goods chain in 1995 and owns 2,000 of its stores. ''From humble beginnings,'' said Steven C. Anderson, president and chief executive of the National Restaurant Association, in a statement yesterday, ''he achieved an unprecedented level of success in a highly competitive segment of the restaurant business.'' Mr. Thomas began by naming his first restaurant, at Fifth and Broad Streets in Columbus, after a daughter who was nicknamed Wendy. He had her on hand -- with her freckles, blue-and-white striped dress and red-and-white striped socks -- to greet the first customers. As the company grew to hold 13 percent of the burger restaurant market -- compared with 43 percent for McDonald's and 19 percent for Burger King, according to Technomic, a Chicago company that tracks the industry -- the down-home style was seldom forgotten. The focus of Wendy's ads for the last decade has been Mr. Thomas. A company survey found that 90 percent of Americans knew Mr.

Thomas as Wendy's founder and that 70 percent recognized him by his name. He has appeared in loud floral shirts and wacky ties, but most often in a short-sleeved white shirt and a red tie. Sometimes he shared the camera with a cute dog or a celebrity, but the pitch was relentlessly straightforward: a friendly offer to sell a high-quality product at a fair price in a friendly environment. Mr. Thomas is said to have appeared in more commercials than the combined appearances in ads of Lee Iacocca, of Chrysler; Orville Redenbacher, of the popcorn brand; and Colonel Sanders, of fried-chicken fame. The Guinness Book of World Records has recognized Mr. Thomas's spots as the ''Longest-Running Television Advertising Campaign Starring a Company Founder.'' Rex David Thomas was born on July 2, 1932, in Atlantic City to a mother he never knew. He was adopted by a couple from Kalamazoo, Mich., when he was 6 weeks old. His adoptive mother, Auleva Thomas, died of rheumatic fever when he was 5.

Advertisement Continue reading the main story He traveled from city to city as his adoptive father, Rex, struggled to find work and remarried three times. When his father was single, the father and son often lived in dirty rooming houses and cramped trailers. He spent summers with Mrs. Thomas's mother, Minnie Sinclair. ''Hard work is good for the soul,'' Mr. Thomas remembered her saying. ''It keeps you from feeling sorry for yourself because you don't have time.'' His favorite thing to do with her was to eat lunch at the counter of a five-and-dime store. He also ate out with his father almost every evening. Since his father did not talk to him very much, he studied how things worked in restaurants. When he was 8, he decided that he would have a restaurant one day. ''Popeye wasn't my hero,'' he recalled. ''Wimpy was, because he loved hamburgers.'' At 10, after his father moved to Fort Wayne, Ind., and remarried, Mr. Thomas sought work. In the next two years, he had stints as a paperboy, a golf caddy, a grocery deliverer and a pinsetter.

At 12, he found work at a Walgreen's soda fountain, but he was fired when the manager found out that he was not 16. Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up At 15, while living in Fort Wayne, he landed his first restaurant job. He was impressed that his boss wore a three-piece suit but mopped the floor and cleaned tables. ''If my boss can do everything, I can, too.'' the boy vowed. When his family moved again, Mr. Thomas refused to go. He dropped out of 10th grade and went to work full time. After serving in the Army as the manager of an enlisted-men's club, he returned to Fort Wayne, where his former boss owned some of the first franchises for a new product known as Kentucky Fried Chicken. But the restaurants were floundering, and Mr. Thomas was told that he could earn a 40 percent ownership share by turning them around. His enthusiasm was so strong that for a while he adopted Colonel Sanders's signature white suit and black string tie. In 1968, Mr.

Thomas sold the restaurants for $1.5 million. He briefly served as regional director for Kentucky Fried Chicken, then helped found the Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips chain. In 1969, he started the hamburger restaurant of his dreams. He named it after the nickname of his 8-year-old daughter, Melinda Lou. Her siblings had difficulty with her name, calling her ''Wenda'' instead, so her nickname was Wendy. She survives him, as well as his wife of 47 years, Lorraine; a son, Ken; three other daughters, Pam, Molly and Lori; and 16 grandchildren. All his children prefer to be known by informal first names, and all live in Columbus. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The idea of Mr. Thomas's first Wendy's restaurant was to make each sandwich fresh and give customers a choice of toppings. The décor matched the old-fashioned theme of the restaurant: Tiffany-style glass lamps, hanging beads and bentwood chairs. The target audience was adults, as indicated by the salad bars, considered a radical thing in a fast-food restaurant. In 1982, he gave up command of day-to-day operations.

He explained that his mentor, Colonel Sanders, had made the mistake of staying on too long. But the company began to make some mistakes, including a failed breakfast menu. In 1986, Mr. Thomas hired a president, James Near, who urged him to be more active. Inside the company, he visited franchises to preach a ''mop-bucket attitude.'' Outside, he starred in commercials. As the commercials became frequent, the company steadily gained market share. Even as he became ubiquitous in commercials, Mr. Thomas devoted more time to pushing his campaign to find homes and loving families for children who need them -- particularly for those who are older, disabled or otherwise less attractive to potential adoptive parents. His Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption has promoted the creation of innovative employment benefit programs for people who adopt, among a number of initiatives. Posters and tray liners in Wendy's restaurants each November promote the cause of adoption. Mr. Thomas readily acknowledged that he was not the perfect father, in large measure because he had no good role model. In an article in People magazine in 1993, his son, Ken, said: ''He doesn't seem to know how to be with us.

For him, home is a nice place to visit, but he doesn't want to live there.'' Mr. Thomas made no apologies. ''How can I explain?'' he asked. ''I like to be around them, but I couldn't do it too much because it would bother me. We'd bug each other.'' Mr. Thomas said his greatest regret was not finishing high school. In 1993, he hired a tutor and passed the G.E.D. exam. Coconut Creek High School in Fort Lauderdale made him part of its senior class. He was awarded his high school diploma, and he and his wife were king and queen of the senior prom. Advertisement Dave Thomas Biography - Childhood, Life Achievements & Timeline Business People Dave Thomas Biography Dave Thomas was the founder of Wendyâs a fast food restaurant chain. Go through this biography to know in details about his life, childhood, profile and timeline. 340 Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA Died on January 8, 2002 (aged 69) Personality Type Lorraine Thomas (m.

1954â2002) children $99 million Image Credit Since generations, people have always complained of not finding the perfect pizza or the spot-on spaghetti while trying different restaurants and fast food joints but has anyone looked beyond complaining? One did and became the owner of the third most popular burger restaurant in US, Wendyâs. In an attempt to revive the status of hamburgers in Columbus, Dave Thomas unknowingly re-wrote history in the world of fast food and created a legacy that lasted through ages. It was his inability to find a good hamburger in Columbus that inspired him to take in charge and start with his own enterprise that sold authentic and scrumptious hamburgers. Backing on the years of expertise in restaurant business which he gained from working at Hobby House Restaurant and his successful attempt at reviving the KFC brand, Thomas took a step ahead in his career and founded Wendy's, a fast-food restaurant chain specializing in hamburgers. He served as the chief executive officer of the company which within a couple of years witnessed a growth manifold, expanding from a single enterprise to a huge burger franchise with a chain of 6000 outlets.

Apart from being the initiator of Wendyâs, Thomas was also responsible for being the face of the brand, as he appeared in about 800 commercials from 1989 until 2002. To know more about his life and profile, read on. Childhood & Early Life Dave Thomas was born to a single woman in Atlantic City, New Jersey, who later gave him up for adoption. When he was six weeks of age, he was adopted by Rex and Auleva Thomas. Young Thomasâs adoptive mother expired when he was five years old. He was then raised up by his grandmother Minnie Sinclair in Michigan, while his father sought for work. It was his grandmother who inculcated in him the values of respect and reverence. Career He took to working at the age of 12 in a restaurant in Knoxville, Tennessee, The Regas. However, the job did not last long as he had a spat with his boss. Vowing never to lose a job again, he moved with his dad and took up various odd jobs, as a paperboy, golf caddy and at soda fountain counter in drugstore.

When he was 15, he started working part time at the Hobby House Restaurant owned by the Clauss family in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Meanwhile, he attained his formal education from a local high school. When his family relocated from Fort Wayne, instead of choosing to go with them, he stayed back and switched to working full-time at the restaurant, dropping out from high school during his 10th grade. In 1950, at the outbreak of the Korean War, he volunteered himself for the US Army. Since he already had a couple of years of experience in food production and service, he chose to serve in the same. He was sent to Germany wherein he took up the post of a mess sergeant. He was responsible for the daily meals of 2000 soldiers. Within a span of time, he was upgraded to the rank of staff sergeant. In 1953, he was relieved of his services. Returning to Fort Wayne, he resumed his duties at Hobby House. Meanwhile, Colonel Harland Sanders, founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken, arrived at Fort Wayne to sell KFC franchises to established businesses.

Reluctantly, Claussâs family accepted the offer, which allowed Sanders to work with Thomas, who was then promoted to the rank of head cook at Hobby House Restaurant. His association with Sanders proved to be a prized opportunity for the former as he learned, developed and polished his business acumen during this time. His suggestions were promptly accepted by Sanders who looked up to revive the KFC brand and increase its sales. During the mid-1960s, he moved to Columbus, Ohio, to revive the future of four KFC stores that the Clauss family owned, each of which was working on deficit balance. Interestingly, within a matter of years, he changed the fate of the restaurants turning them into profitable ventures so much so that in 1968, he sold his shares back to Sanders for more than $1.5 million. Perpetually complaining about the inability to find good hamburgers in Columbus, Ohio, he sought to make a foray into producing hamburgers himself. Accompanied by his business skills and experience gained from reviving the KFC brand, he moved ahead and started his own business. He inaugurated his first restaurant, Wendy in November 15, 1969.

The restaurant was named after his eight year old daughter Melinda Lou who was nicknamed Wendy. Wendyâs soon caught the craze in the food-loving people of the city, who loved its offering, for its unique shape and choice of toppings. The rising demand and abundant popularity led to Wendyâs becoming the top food joint in the city. The single restaurant which he had opened soon multiplied itself and in less than a decade, transformed into a more than 1000-outlet franchise. Wendyâs had become a popular hamburger chain in and outside the country. In 1982, he resigned from his day to day operational duties only to resume the responsibilities three years later in 1985. During the period of hiatus, the company suffered from major setbacks, given deficient balance sheets, losing brand popularity, an unaccepted breakfast menu and dipping sales. A call from the companyâs President led him to go back in action for Wendy. He took up an active role and visited each of the franchises, motivating and uplifting the morale of the employees to work harder to revamp the image of the brand.

In 1989, he took on the hat of a television spokesman, promoting Wendy in a series of commercials. Though the commercials failed to impress the audience initially due to his lack of acting skills, a change in the write-up led to the desired effect and the popularity of Wendyâs soon caught in the market. By the 1990s, he soon became the face of the brand and a household name. With more than 800 commercials, he steered Wendyâs popularity to make it the country's third most popular burger restaurant, after McDonalds and Burger King. The company had about 6000 franchises. Interestingly, he resumed his studies in 1993, considering his dropping out of high school his biggest mistake and a bad example for teenagers. He enrolled at Coconut Creek High School and was awarded a GED the same year. Awards & Achievements He was a Freemason at Sol. D. Bayless Lodge No. 359 Fort Wayne, Indiana, and a member of the Shriners. In 1995, he was conferred with the honorary 33rd degree.

In 1999, he was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame. Additionally, he was also an honorary Kentucky colonel Personal Life & Legacy He tied the nuptial knot with Lorraine in 1956. The couple was blessed with five children, the youngest of whom was Melinda Lou, nicknamed Wendy on whom he later named the chain of restaurants. An adoptive child himself, he founded the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, which made some ground-breaking initiatives, providing benefits for people who adopted children. It was due to his increasing popularity that he was appointed as a national spokesman on adoptive issues by President George Bush. He underwent a quadruple bypass surgery in December 1996. Though he resumed his active role as brand promoter, in the early months of 2001, he began receiving kidney dialysis. On January 8, 2002, he breathed his last at his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida due to liver cancer. He was interred in Union Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio Posthumously, in 2003, he was awarded with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Translate this page to Spanish, French, Hindi, Portuguese Pictures of Dave Thomas Dave Thomas - Found a GraveFound a Grave z Dave Thomas (Rex David Thomas) Dave Thomas was born on July 2, 1932 in Atlantic City, New Jersey to a young unmarried woman he never knew. He was adopted at 6 weeks by Rex and Auleva Thomas,[2] and as an adult became a well-known advocate for adoption, founding the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. After his adoptive mother’s death when he was 5, his father moved around the country seeking work. Thomas spent some of his early childhood near Kalamazoo, Michigan with his grandmother, Minnie Sinclair, who he credited with teaching him the importance of service and treating others well and with respect, lessons that helped him in his future business life. At 12, Thomas got his first job at Regas Restaurant, a fine dining restaurant in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, then lost it in a dispute with his boss; decades later, Regas Restaurant installed a large autographed poster-photo of Thomas just inside their entrance until the business closed down December 31, 2010. He vowed never to lose another job.

Moving with his father, by 15 he was working in Fort Wayne, Indiana at the Hobby House Restaurant owned by the Clauss family. When his father prepared to move again, Dave decided to stay in Fort Wayne, dropping out of high school to work full-time at the restaurant. Thomas, who considered ending his schooling the greatest mistake of his life, did not graduate from high school until 1993, when he obtained a GED. He subsequently became an education advocate and founded the Dave Thomas Education Center in Coconut Creek, Florida, which offers GED classes to young adults. In the mid-1950s, Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Col. Harland Sanders came to Fort Wayne to find restaurateurs with established businesses in order to try to sell KFC franchises to them. At first, Thomas, who was the head cook at a restaurant, and the Clausses declined Sanders’ offer, but the Colonel persisted and the Clauss family franchised their restaurant with KFC and later also owned many other KFC franchises in the Midwest. During this time, Thomas worked with Sanders on many projects to make KFC more profitable and to give it brand recognition.

Among other things Thomas suggested to Sanders that were implemented: KFC’s signature chicken bucket (to keep the chicken crisp), reduce the number of items on the menu, focus on a signature dish. Thomas also suggested Sanders make commercials that he appear in himself. Thomas was sent by the Clauss family in the mid-1960s to help turn around four failing KFC stores they owned in Columbus, Ohio. By 1968 Thomas had increased sales in the four fried chicken restaurants so much that he sold his share in them back to Sanders for more than $1.5 million. This experience would prove invaluable to Thomas when he began Wendy’s about a year later. Thomas opened his first Wendy’s in Columbus, Ohio, November 15, 1969. (This original restaurant remained operational until March 2, 2007, when it was closed due to lagging sales.) Thomas named the restaurant after his eight-year-old daughter Melinda Lou, whose nickname was “Wendy”, stemming from the child’s inability to say her own name at a young age. According to Bio TV, Dave claims himself that people nicknamed his daughter “Wenda. Not Wendy, but Wenda.

‘I’m going to call it Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers’.” In 1982, Thomas resigned from his day-to-day operations at Wendy’s. However, by 1985, several company business decisions, including an awkward new breakfast menu and loss in brand awareness due to fizzled marketing efforts, caused the company’s new president to urge Thomas back into a more active role with Wendy’s. Thomas began to visit franchises and espouse his hardworking, so-called “mop-bucket attitude.” In 1989, he took on a significant role as the TV spokesperson in a series of commercials for the brand. Thomas was not a natural actor, and initially, his performances were criticized as stiff and ineffective by advertising critics. By 1990, after efforts by Wendy’s agency, Backer Spielvolgel Bates, to get humor into the campaign, a decision was made to portray Thomas in a more self-deprecating and folksy manner, which proved much more popular with test audiences. Consumer brand awareness of Wendy’s eventually regained levels it had not achieved since octogenarian Clara Peller’s wildly popular “Where’s the beef?” campaign of 1984.

With his natural self-effacing style and his relaxed manner, Thomas quickly became a household name. A company survey during the 1990s, a decade during which Thomas starred in every Wendy’s commercial that aired, found that 90% of Americans knew who Thomas was. After more than 800 commercials, it was clear that Thomas played a major role in Wendy’s status as the country’s third most popular burger restaurant. In 1994, Thomas made a cameo appearance as himself in Bionic Ever After?, a reunion TV movie based upon The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman. Thomas had been battling Carcinoid Cancer (AKA Neuroendocrine Tumor) since the 1990s, the disease had metastasized to his liver. He died on January 8, 2002 at his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at the age of 69. Thomas was buried in Union Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio. At the time of his death, there were more than 6,000 Wendy’s restaurants operating in North America.

More Images Business english 4 by Teffa MarGón - issuu issuu Name: Estefany Margarita MarroquĂ­n GonzĂĄlez Teaching: Julio Blanco Company: Wendy`s DAVE THOMAS Dave Thomas is best known for founding the Wendy's hamburger restaurant chain. He became the company's TV spokesman in 1989. After complaining that he couldn't find a good hamburger in Columbus, Ohio, Dave Thomas opened his own restaurant on November 15, 1969: Wendy's, named after Thomas's 8-year-old daughter. Wendy's quickly caught on, and within less than a decade, had grown into a 1,000-store franchise. In 1989, Thomas took on the role of television spokesman for the company with a series of hugely successful commercials. He died in Florida in 2000. Dave Thomas, famed founder of the Wendy's restaurant chain and television spokesman, was born Rex David Thomas on July 2, 1932, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Thomas never knew his birth mother, and was adopted by a couple from Kalamazoo, Michigan, when he was 6 months old.

Thomas's adoptive mother died when he was only five, and by the age of 10 Thomas had lost two stepmothers as well. He spent summers in Maine with his adoptive grandmother, Minnie Thomas, who was his closest relative and a big influence in his life. When Thomas was still a pre-teen, his family (his father, Rex, had remarried again) moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he worked at such jobs as a paperboy, golf caddy, and at a soda fountain counter in a drugstore. Thomas got his first job at a restaurant when he was 15 years old, and when his family decided to leave Fort Wayne to move again, he refused to leave, dropping out of school in the 10th grade and going to work full time. Foray into Restaurant Business Thomas served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War as the manager of an enlisted-men's club. Upon returning to Fort Wayne, Thomas found his former boss at the Hobby House restaurant, Phil Clauss, owned some of the first franchises of the budding Kentucky Fried Chicken chain. Clauss offered Thomas the opportunity to move to Columbus, Ohio, to turn around the restaurants, which were failing.

Colonel Sanders's signature chicken had been a big hit for the Hobby House and Thomas thought he could sell it in Ohio. By 1968, a few short years later, a 35-year-old Thomas sold the franchises back to the headquarters for $1.5 million. First Wendy's Opens After complaining that he couldn't find a good hamburger in Columbus, Thomas decided to open his own restaurant. On November 15, 1969, he opened the first Wendy's restaurant, named for his eight-year-old daughter, Melinda Lou, known as Wendy. She was the youngest of his five children with his wife Lorraine, whom he married in 1956. Known for its square hamburgers and choice of toppings, Wendy's quickly caught on and within less than a decade grew into a franchise of 1,000 stores. In 1982, Thomas gave up command of day-to-day operations at Wendy's. Four years later, after some business mistakes had hurt sales for Wendy's, the company's new president urged Thomas to take a more active role in the company.

Thomas began to visit franchises and espouse his hardworking, so-called "mop-bucket attitude." In 1989, he took on an even more important role, as the television spokesman for the company in a series of fantastically successful commercials. Success as Pitchman With his folksy style and his relaxed pitch for his restaurant's, Thomas became a household name. A company survey during the 1990s, a decade during which Thomas starred in every Wendy's commercial that aired, found that 90 percent of Americans knew who Thomas was. After more than 800 commercials, it was clear that Thomas was one of the main reasons behind Wendy's status as the number-three burger restaurant in the country (behind McDonald's and Burger King), with more than 6,000 franchises. Personal Life Thomas also worked throughout his life to promote the adoption of foster children. He founded the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, which promoted the creation of an employee benefits program for people who adopt, as well as a number of other groundbreaking initiatives. President George Bush named him a national spokesman on adoption issues. Thomas, who always regretted not finishing high school, hired a tutor and passed the G.E.D.

high-school equivalency exam in 1993. All pages: Case Analysis Profitability of Wendy s Chilli. Essay - 1650 Words Please sign up to read full document. Text Preview Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy's restaurant, opened his first restaurant on November 15, 1969 in Columbus, Ohio. Dave was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey on July 2, 1932. He was adopted at six weeks old by Rex and Auleva Thomas. Dave moved from state to state with his father when his mother passed at the age of 5. At the age of 12, Dave obtained his first job at a restaurant in Knoxville. Thus, he began his love for the restaurant business. At the age of 15, Dave dropped out of high school to work full time in the restaurant business. While working full-time at the Hobby House restaurant, Dave met Colonel Sanders, the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken (now KFC). In 1962, Dave was offered the opportunity to turn around four failing Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants in Columbus, Ohio.

Utilizing his past experience, Dave turned the restaurants around, sold them back to KFC, and immediately became a millionaire all at the age of 35. He then co-founded Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips. Dave again capitalized on his experiences in restaurant management when he decided to establish his own restaurant. Since hamburgers were his favorite food, Dave decided to start a restaurant that would serve a quality hamburger without a 30 minute waiting period. Named for his eight year old daughter, Dave started Wendy's. In order to focus on quality and remain competitive, the menu was limited to four basic products excluding beverages. The product line included hamburgers, chili, french fries, and Wendy's Frosty Dairy Dessert. Wendy's hamburgers patties consisted of ¼ pound of 100 percent pure domestic beef, served as a square shaped patty rather than a round shaped patty, and served "hot 'n juicy" in accordance with individual customer orders. The french fries were sliced slightly longer and thicker from high quality potatoes and cooked in specially-designed fryers to allow the inside to be cooked without burning the outside.

Wendy's Frosty Dairy Dessert is a thick blend of vanilla and chocolate flavors and must be served with a spoon as a dessert rather than a straw. Wendy's chili is the fourth basic menu item. Whenever the cook overestimated customer demand, beef patties stayed on the grill beyond the recommended time. This caused the beef patties to be well done. To avoid customer dissatisfaction, Wendy's used the "well done" beef patties that had been refrigerated from the previous day and could not be served to customers. Each eight ounce serving contained about a quarter pound of ground beef. Wendy's chili is prepared by the assistant manager or an experienced crew member using an original recipe. The labor cost for the assistant manager and crew member is listed in Table 1. The cost to prepare the chili is listed in Table 2 below. Table 3, illustrates the direct cost associated with the production of chili. Table 1. Labor costs for assistant manager or a crew member to prepare chili in 1978 Table 2. Ingredients and costs in 1978. Table 3.

Direct cost for 1978 In the event of a shortage of overcooked patties, beef patties were cooked for the sole purpose of inclusion in the chili. In order to prepare a pot of chili, it took 10 to 20 minutes of preparation time. This process required chopping the meat into small pieces, adding the other ingredients and stirring the batch six times. Sixty percent of the total annual sales for chili occurred during the months from October to March. The chili product has the lowest gross profit margin. The 1978 labor and additional direct costs are listed in Table 4 below. Table 4. Cost of Chili Preparation, Overall Cost of Chili and Profit of Chili. In November 1979, Wendy's became the first national restaurant chain to introduce a Salad Bar on the menu. Initial test marketing of the salad bar concept had been successful. This innovative idea also posed a dilemma. If Wendy's was to follow their limited menu concept, the salad bar would potentially replace chili since it had... Please sign up to read full document.

YOU MAY ALSO FIND THESE DOCUMENTS HELPFUL Hamburger Helper - The Story of Dave Thomas | ReGENERATION Partners Blog | ReGENERATION Partners Hamburger Helper Management and Leadership Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers, says he knew from the time he was eight years old that he wanted to be in the hamburger business, but he cooked a lot of chicken and fish and chips before he created the highly successful hamburger chain he leads today. R. David Thomas was born July 2, 1932, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and never knew his parents. He was adopted by a couple from Kalamazoo, Michigan, when he was six weeks old, but his adoptive mother died when he was five. He moved from state to state as his adoptive father sought work. When Thomas was fifteen, his family moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and he got a job as a busboy at the Hobby House Restaurant. When his family decided to move again, Thomas decided to stay. He took a room at the YMCA and exhausted from working long hours at the restaurant, dropped out of school after completing the tenth grade. He joined the U.S.

Army when he turned eighteen and attended the army’s cook and baker school before serving a tour of duty in Frankfurt, Germany, where he became one of the youngest soldiers ever to manage an enlisted men’s club. Discharged, he returned to the Hobby House as a short order cook, where he met his future wife, Lorraine, a waitress, whom he married in 1954. In 1962, he joined Kentucky Fried Chicken (see ReLATIVELY Speaking, December 1996, Life Begins at Forty ) and transformed four bankrupt take-out stores in Columbus, Ohio into a $1.5 million personal profit. Thomas was a millionaire at 35. After he left KFC, Thomas and an associate started Arthur Treachers Fish & Chips – although his first love was still the hamburger business. The first Wendy’s opened on November 15, 1969 at 257 East Broad Street in downtown Columbus, Ohio. He named the restaurant after his eight year old daughter, Melinda Lou, dubbed Wendy by her brother and sisters. Thomas’ ambitions were modest. He hoped someday to have several restaurants around Columbus that would provide a place for his children to work in the summer.

Today, the former busboy and high school dropout presides over an empire that includes more than 3,800 restaurants throughout the U.S. and in thirty countries and territories around the world. Some 600 people work in Wendy’s headquarters in Dublin, Ohio, and 130,000 people are employed by Wendy’s and its franchises worldwide. Thomas recipe for success: hard work, patience, honesty and total commitment. About ReGENERATION Partners Founded by James Olan Hutcheson , ReGENERATION Partners is one of the world’s premiere family business consulting firm. For over 20 years, we’ve helped clients strengthen their families and improve their business. Learn how we can help you . Wendy's Chili: A Costing Conundrum by Richard Brownlee :: SSRN UVA-C-2206 Abstract: This case deals with numerous business issues, including those pertaining to leadership, strategy, marketing, cost accounting, and management control. One central issue is how to allocate the cost of a significant portion of the ground beef used in making chili. The problem arises because much of the meat used in making chili comes from overcooked hamburger patties that cannot be served to customers as hamburgers.

On the one hand, one could argue that none of this meat cost should be assigned to chili because those patties cannot be served as hamburgers and would be thrown away if it weren't for chili. On the other hand, overcooked hamburgers are perfectly acceptable as chili ingredients. In fact, the chili recipe specifically calls for a specific number of cooked hamburger patties per batch. One could argue, therefore, that the full cost of the overcooked hamburger patties should be charged to chili. Whatever allocation procedure is used will affect the profitability of both hamburgers and chili. Another central issue is recognizing when the market and the competitive environment have changed to the point where a company must completely rethink the original concept that led to extraordinary success during its first ten years of business. This was particularly difficult for Wendy's because of the close relationship that existed among the physical facilities, the products sold, and the delivery system. In addition, Wendy's faced the challenge of constantly adapting to higher customer expectations, improved quality, greater variety from existing competitors, and the continual emergence of new competitors. In January 2002, Wendy's faced the ultimate test that can confront any reasonably young business: the need to go forward without the company's founder and patriarch.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 11 Keywords: product costs, profitability analysis JEL Classification: Date posted: October 21, 2008 Suggested Citation

Question: Named after his eight year old daughter, Dave Thomas founded which chain of US restaurants in 1969?
Answer: Wendy’s