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April 24, 2008
D'oh
Wendy's Last Stand 10, originally uploaded by fensterbme.
Now this is terrible news. First they close the original Wendy's in downtown Columbus. Now they are getting purchased by f'ing ARBY's? Dios mio!
After at least two rejections, billionaire Nelson Peltz has finally succeeded in landing Wendy's in a $2.3 billion deal that would add the chain known for its square burger and chocolate Frosty dessert to his ownership of Arby's and its roast beef sandwiches.
Now, the investor known for agitating corporations to boost their stock price has to figure out how to make both profitable while the economy slumps and more Americans are saving money on food and fuel by staying home to eat.
Atlanta-based Triarc Companies Inc., owned by Peltz, said Thursday it will pay about $2.34 billion in an all-stock deal for the nation's third-largest hamburger chain started in 1969 by Dave Thomas. Wendy's had rejected at least two buyout offers from Triarc.
Thomas' daughter Pam Thomas Farber said the family was devastated by the news.
"It's a very sad day for Wendy's, and our family. We just didn't think this would be the outcome," said Farber, 53.
If her father were alive to hear news of the buyout, "he would not be amused," she said.
I think the worst part about this is now Wendy's might serve Pepsi, because Arby's has Pepsi. I hate Pepsi. Ever since they signed a deal with the Ohio State Fair in 1992 or so, I vowed to never drink Pepsi. I think it had to do with me disliking their totalitarian ban on Coca-Cola. I didn't realize then that Coke also does the same thing, but I justify it now by also disliking Pepsi's hare-brained advertising schemes.
One of the most annoying things to me was the so-called Pepsi Wendy's. When my family would drive to Buffalo, we'd often stop in Wooster for lunch. (You're a true Ohioan if you know how to pronounce Wooster.) There was this Wendy's there, but for some reason it had Pepsi. I always told my parents, I don't want to go there, that's the Pepsi Wendy's. Naturally they didn't listen.
Of course, now I don't drink a lot of pop, but I still enjoy the occasional Coke. I'll be sad if I have to eat my #1 Combo Meal with a freaking root beer. Not that root beer is bad... But a Coke and a hamburger are the perfect marriage. That is a whole other story.
entry no. 1134
Posted at April 24, 2008 01:58 PM