Wendy’s first restaurant closed in 2007 in Columbus, Ohio, but this sign still shines at the flagship store in Dublin, Ohio. (Rolando Pujol)
Wendy’s surge-pricing publicity debacle the other day sent me reaching into my archives for pictures of old-school Wendy’s, in particular my favorite generation, the yellow stores that were built from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, when Wendy’s adopted the copper mansard look that dominated into the early 21st century. See my Instagram post, below.
Today, we’re going to a place made for “Wendy’s kind of people”— Dublin, Ohio, home of Wendy’s flagship restaurant. The store includes a large, glassed-off dining room that doubles as a small museum.
The museum dining room is just off the main one. (Rolando Pujol)
This is likely the only Wendy’s in the nation where you can consume your meal on a vintage newsprint table while sitting on a bentwood chair fitted with an orange leather seat. Above you is a faux Tiffany lamp, and behind you are those colorful beads that used to hang in Wendy’s restaurants.
The newsprint — I always call them newspaper — table, along with the bentwood chairs (or Thonet if you want to be fancy) are a touch I always loved about Wendy’s. This dining set was rescued from the original store in Columbus, Ohio. (Rolando Pujol)
This lamp would look great in my kitchen, but I’m happy it is right where it belongs, at the Wendy’s flagship store. (Rolando Pujol)
Encased in glass are two gems: The beads that once graced Wendy’s restaurants and the menu boards that greeted motorists choosing to use the “Pick-up Window.” Dave Thomas intentionally called them that, versus the more common “drive-thru window,” to discourage the sort of loafing common at drive-in restaurants at the time. Pick up your food and drive home was the not-so-subtle message. (Rolando Pujol)
The founder of Wendy’s, Dave Thomas, wanted to embrace nostalgia with his restaurants, evoking a spirit of warmth and comfort from “olden times,” as understood to a wide audience in 1969, when he opened the first Wendy’s. His hamburgers were to be “Old Fashioned” — a big square patty of fresh beef, its four corners poking out of the bun — and his daughter (and yes, mascot) Wendy, in pigtails and a simple striped blue dress, was something out of the imagination of Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Wendy Thomas, in her Wendy’s haircut and attire, standing outside the original store in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Well, her name was actually Melinda, but her young siblings struggled with pronouncing that word and called her Wenda, which begat Wendy and the rest is history. (Rolando Pujol)
An early sketch of Wendy as used in signage during the first decade. (Rolando Pujol)
The flagship store is not an homage to old-school Wendy’s, however. It adheres to the modern corporate-dictated look rolled out about a decade ago and slowly adopted by restaurants.
The flagship store adopts the current design unveiled in 2012. That figure standing beside one of the red umbrellas is a statue of Wendy’s founder, Dave Thomas. (Rolando Pujol)
Starting in 1989, Dave Thomas became a familiar face — heck, he quickly became famous — as he appeared in about 800 Wendy’s commercials before his death in 2002 at age 69. Wendy’s had been desperate for a popular campaign following the implosion of the “Where’s the Beef” phenomenon featuring the octogenarian pitchwoman Clara Peller. She was canned after she claimed, in a commercial, that she “found it” — aka the beef — in a giant jar of Prego spaghetti sauce. Here, the founder is remembered holding a bag of Wendy’s and a Frosty, his kindly smile and aviator glasses to complete the look so many of us remember. (Rolando Pujol)
Still, I submit that this space, as special as it is, also represents a missed opportunity to rebuild a proper 1970s-era Wendy’s dining room, though I’d be fine with skipping the carpet, which must have been nightmarish to maintain.
Throughout the dining room are historical items, photos and a timeline of the chain’s evolution. Some of the items you will see include:
Clara Peller is playing the part of the beef on a giant bun in this collectible plate. If you’ve never seen the commercials, which were first shown in January 1984, stop what you’re doing and click here, then please return and read on. (Rolando Pujol)
A screenshot from a mid-1970s Wendy’s commercial is on display in the store, and a representative ad can be seen below. (Rolando Pujol)
The wacky Jonathan Winters appeared in several guises in the “Hot ‘N Juicy” ads from 1977, which can be seen below. The campaign briefly returned in the middle 1980s, after the “Where’s the Beef” campaign ended. Each ad finishes with a still of a “Yellow Wendy’s.” (Rolando Pujol)
NOTE: The Manassas, Virginia, Wendy’s still looked like the one shown in the 1977 commercials, above, as late as June 8, 2020, when I took this photo. (Rolando Pujol)
The Wendy’s Crew uniform reflected the design of Wendy’s “Old-Fashioned” dress. (Rolando Pujol)
Not far from the flagship store in Dublin is Wendy’s world headquarters. I quickly spun around campus to get a feel for the place. And I noticed something cool.
The Wendy’s campus in Dublin, Ohio (Rolando Pujol)
The brick of the building reminds me of that used on older restaurants. What’s more, and even more special, is the top decorative panels that mimic those used on the old Yellow Wendy’s buildings and in the early logo.
The headquarters building has a subtle but familiar motif on the facade. (Rolando Pujol)
See what I mean below:
The old-timey scrollwork found on the 1970s-early 1980s architecture and sign is reflected along the top of the Wendy’s headquarters building in Dublin, Ohio. (Rolando Pujol)
Yellow Wendy’s are down to probably none by now. I caught some of the last ones several years ago down in Delmarva, and Retailpocalypse, who has launched an excellent Substack, explains the backstory on why this batch survived — a battle between corporate, pushing changes, and a franchise group that had no desire to upgrade. Why fix — and spend money — on that which is not broken? Wendy’s emerged victorious, and the stores were either remodeled or shuttered.
It’s easy to miss, but this marker in Columbus, Ohio, offers a delicious tidbit of fast-food history. The original restaurant stood here between 1969 and 2007, when the marker was installed. (Rolando Pujol)
By the way, Wendy's original location was in downtown Columbus, Ohio, where it opened on Nov. 15, 1969. It closed in 2007 and was later demolished. All that remains is a plaque marking the spot, above.
As a geographer, I appreciate your posts. I recently found a Wendy’s in Tokyo, Japan.
Wendy's was established in 1969, and the owner died at age 69? Interesting.