Hundreds Bid Farewell To The First Wendy’s Restaurant

Biz Journals:

They came in droves, regulars and first-timers, children, parents and grandparents, to order burgers, fries and milkshakes at the first Wendy’s (WEN) restaurant, which closed Friday after 37 years downtown because of persistent lagging sales.

Some called the decision corporate greed. Others shrugged, saying they could understand a business decision.

“If Dave Thomas knew, he would roll over in his grave,” said Drenna Burke, a broker’s assistant who works around the corner. She ate often at the dark brick restaurant with a distinctive blue-and-white aluminum trim and on Thursday was snapping pictures of Wendy’s paraphernalia, including toys, utensils and photos of Thomas from over the years.

“You can’t tell me that Wendy’s doesn’t make enough profit that they can continue to keep this open,” Burke said. “It’s all about greed and it’s all about money.”

Thomas, who died in 2002, opened the restaurant in a former steakhouse on a cold, snowy Saturday on Nov. 15, 1969. He was accompanied by actor Danny Thomas, a longtime friend, and later became nationally known as the company’s pitchman in television commercials for the nation’s third largest hamburger chain.

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