World Wide Wendy’s

Portfolio.com:

Leave the United States, and you’re still likely to find outposts of McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, and Burger King. Finding a Wendy’s hasn’t been easy, but company officials have big plans to change that.

Wendy’s International Inc. is putting emphasis on the second word in its name lately.

The Dublin, Ohio-based division of Wendy’s/Arby’s Group Inc. since its 2008 acquisition has secured deals calling for more than 400 overseas restaurants in the next decade, a blueprint to more than double its global reach.

“They’re playing catch-up, but they should be doing that,” said Jay Anand, a professor of corporate strategy and international business at Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business. “The U.S. and Canada are saturated markets. You need to be in growing markets.” Read on…