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March 01, 2007
A tragic day
Tomorrow a piece of Columbus legend is going away. That's right - unfortunately, the original Wendy's is closing:
The original Wendy’s restaurant that company founder Dave Thomas opened in 1969 will close Friday.
The Downtown icon, chockfull of Wendy’s memorabilia, has been losing money for years, particularly after the old Center of Science and Industry across the street closed in 1999.
"This was a painful decision," Denny Lynch, a spokesman at Wendy’s headquarters in Dublin, said yesterday after confirming the move. "The store is a walking history of the company."
Wendy’s had put off the decision to close the restaurant at 257 E. Broad St. for years, and acted only after determining that the building would require a costly upgrade.
The memorabilia will be moved to the headquarters.
Dave Thomas, who died in 2002, opened the restaurant Nov. 15, 1969, as Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers. It was named for his 8-year-old daughter, Melinda Lou, whose nickname was Wendy.
That old Wendy's was located right in downtown Columbus, and the only time we ever went to it was when we would go to COSI, which was this science museum. COSI had the coolest exhibits, like a replica of Johnny 5 from the Short Circuit movies; a fake coal mine; a "hall of time" with uplifting exhibits like the Black Death, the Civil War, and the Visigoths sacking Rome; a giant pendulum that would knock down little pins every 5 minutes; and a walk-in model of the human heart. There were plenty of others, but those were the ones I remember the most. Well, they moved COSI to a brand new, expensive location with all new exhibits, and it sucks. COSI lost a lot of personality with that move. Or it could be that I was 18 when it opened and no longer amused by a machine that would test my lung capacity. But I like to think it's just because the new one actually does suck.
Anyway, the original Wendy's was right across the street from COSI, so we would always eat lunch there and then roll over to COSI. Dave Thomas (founder of Wendy's, duh) was a bit of an icon in Columbus, and it was a sad day when he died. Wendy's doesn't have the sheer power of McDonald's or the manly appeal of Burger King, but it is still my favorite fast food chain. I think part of that was visiting the original Wendy's so often, along with the appeal of Dave Thomas. The original Wendy's may soon be gone, but the Biggie Coke will live on!
entry no. 765
Posted by oz115 at March 1, 2007 11:35 AM
Comments
And they got rid of their chicken tenders!
Posted by: christy at March 2, 2007 10:26 AM