Rex David “Dave” Thomas (July 2, 1932 – January 8, 2002) was an American businessman, billionaire, philanthropist and founder of the fast-food restaurant chain, Wendy’s.
- Dave Thomas
Rex David “Dave” Thomas (July 2, 1932 – January 8, 2002) was an American businessman, billionaire, philanthropist and founder of the fast-food restaurant chain, Wendy’s.
He was born in Atlantic City, NJ and never knew his birth mother. He was adopted by Alueva and Rex Thomas, a Michigan couple. Alueva died when Dave was 5 years old, and his adoptive father Rex ultimately remarried twice, all before Dave turned 10 years old. Moving from Michigan to Fort Wayne, IN, at age 12 he began getting small jobs to earn money while still attending school.
At age 15 he dropped out of 10th grade to work full time at the local Hobby House restaurant, a job he loved. Later in life, he often spoke of dropping out of school as one of his biggest mistakes that ultimately led to one of his greatest accomplishments, working in a restaurant and eventually owning a restaurant chain.
At age 18, he left the Hobby House to serve in the Army managing an enlisted-men’s club. Upon finishing his service duty in 1953, he returned to work in Fort Wayne, IN at the Hobby House restaurant where he met and fell in love with a waitress named Lorraine Buskirk. Dave and Lorraine married in 1954 and began to raise their family of children.
In 1962, Dave reconnected with a former restaurant boss who now owned some Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises in Columbus, Ohio. The restaurants were struggling, so in exchange for working hard to turn them around, Dave is said to have earned 40% ownership share. It’s interesting to note that Dave Thomas started out as a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchisee and became friends with Colonel Sanders, who functioned as a mentor for Dave.
In 1968 Dave sold his KFC restaurant for about $1.5 million and briefly worked as a regional director for KFC before helping to found the Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips restaurant chain. During this time, Dave’s desire to start his own hamburger restaurant was coming to fruition.
On November 15, 1969, at about age 37, he opened the first Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers restaurant, named for his 8-year-old daughter, Melinda Lou, whose family nickname was Wendy. The hamburgers were a unique square shape, rather than the traditional round, to fit more patties on the grill. Familiar and experienced with the business format of franchising, Dave soon franchised his Wendy’s restaurants.
In 1973, Dave began to franchise the Wendy's concept. His innovative strategy of selling franchises for entire cities and regions, rather than single units, was unheard of in the industry at that time, and it resulted in Wendy's opening more than 1,000 restaurants in the company's first 100 months, including some in Canada.
https://www.zippia.com/wendy-s-careers-44303/history/ TIMELINE OF WENDY’S
In 1982, Dave stepped down from the day-to-day operations of the Wendy’s corporation, but remained active in visiting the stores, and starring in the television ads throughout the rest of his life. In 1984, the Wendy’s “Where’s the beef?” first aired, which made fun of other fast-food chains, and quickly became a pop culture ad slogan. It is estimated that Dave starred in more than 800 Wendy’s television commercials.
Throughout the 1980s through the end of his life, Dave was a strong advocate for foster care adoption. While he and Lorraine were blessed with 5 children of their own – Pam, Ken, Lori, Molly and Melinda (Wendy), he himself had been an orphan and had been fortunate to be adopted. Wanting to pay his good fortune forward, Dave became a vocal supporter for foster children and their need to find loving families and a caring home, especially for older or disabled children.
In 1990, President George H.W. Bush took notice, and invited Dave to be a spokesperson for a national awareness campaign about adoption. In 1992, Dave started The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.
In 1996, President Clinton signed a bill giving a tax credit to parents who adopt children, and recognized Dave Thomas for his leadership in advocating for adoption.
In 1994, as Wendy’s International turned 25 years old, the company achieved $4.2 billion in system-wide sales. revenue Dave Thomas died at age 69 on January 8, 2002, in his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and is buried in Union Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio.
- Dave Thomas
1932 – 1969 Early Years
David Rex Thomas was born on July 2, 1932 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA, and never knew his birth mother. He was adopted by Alueva and Rex Thomas, a a couple who lived in Michigan. When Dave was 5 years old, Alueva died. Dave’s adoptive father, Rex, struggled to find work and brought young Dave with him as he traveled from city to city searching for a job. As a single father, life was hard and their housing conditions ranged from rooming houses to trailers.
Rex Thomas would ultimately go on to remarry three more times. In the summers, Dave would often stay with his Minnie Sinclair, his grandmother, who would take him to the lunch counter of a local store for a bite to eat. Traveling around with his father, Rex and Dave ate out on most evenings. This early exposure to restaurant dining, and seeing how they operated, clearly influenced his career decisions as he got older.
By the time Dave was 10, he and his father and Rex’s new wife, all lived together in Fort Wayne, IN. Over the course of the next two years, Dave held various jobs to earn money while also attending school. His jobs ranged from delivering papers, to being golf caddy, delivering groceries, etc. At the age of 12, he worked at the soda fountain counter in a local pharmacy store, but was fired when the manager discovered that he was only 12 years old and not 16 years old.
When Dave was 15 years old, he obtained a job at the Hobby House Restaurant, his first real restaurant job. He loved working there and enjoyed the family environment. When it came time for his father and mother to move out of Fort Wayne so that Rex could take on a new job, Dave refused to leave. He decided to drop out of 10th grade, quitting school altogether to work full time at the Hobby House to support himself.
At age 18, Dave joined the Army at the beginning of the Korean War. During his time in the Army, he began at the Cook and Baker's School located in Fort Benning, Georgia, and eventually became one of the youngest soldiers to manage the Army’s Enlisted Men's Club. In 1953 he finished his Army work and returned to the Hobby House Restaurant where he met Lorraine Buskirk, a waitress who had been hired while Dave was serving his country in the war.
They quickly fell in love and married in 1954 and went on to have five children together.
With Dave’s work ethic, entrepreneurial spirit, and passion for restaurant work, it’s no wonder that in 1962 at about age 30, he was offered the chance to breathe new life into Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants in Columbus, OH that were failing. At some point in the late 1950’s/early 1960’s Dave met Colonel Sanders (Harlan Sanders), founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken and became a mentee of Sanders’. The franchisee of the four Columbus restaurants offered Dave the opportunity to turn his failing restaurants around. Dave rose to the challenge and succeeded.
He implemented menu changes, and new, creative ways to promote the restaurant. Dave later bought the restaurants from Phil Clauss, the owner. He embraced and exemplified Colonel Sanders’ work and can-do spirit. In 1968, Dave Thomas sold his franchises back to KFC headquarters for about $1.5 million and became regional director for KFC corporate where he helped to found the Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips chain of restaurants.
It wasn’t until 1969 at age 37 that Dave Thomas started his first hamburger restaurant. He named it Wendy’s, which was the family nickname for his young daughter, Melinda Lou.
The concept for the first Wendy's restaurant was to make each hamburger fresh and offer them with a range of toppings. The restaurant interiors were deliberately old fashioned and included Tiffany-style glass lamps, hanging beads and bentwood chairs for seating. The target audience for Wendy’s at that time was adults, so the restaurants offered salad bars, something unusual for a fast-food enterprise at that time. The iconic square shape of the Wendy’s hamburgers was more than a novelty; it served a purpose: you could fit more square hamburgers on the cook stoves than the traditional round shape.
With his Columbus, OH restaurant a success, it wouldn’t be long before Dave decided it was time to franchise.
- Dave Thomas
Dave opened his first Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers restaurant on Nov 15, 1969 in downtown Columbus, OH. He named the restaurant after one his children, his daughter Melinda’s nickname.
The name was intrinsic with the branding for the restaurant; he wanted folks to know the beef was fresh, and although a modern concept, the overall vibe and décor of the restaurant was what folks were used to (“old fashioned”). The restaurant very quickly became popular with their unique twist on a quick service hamburger: it was a square patty! Within a year, Dave opened a second restaurant in Columbus, and soon two more followed.
In 1970, Wendy’s added the modern concept of a “pick up” window as a convenience for busy customers that other fast-service restaurants were also starting to use. Although Dave Thomas didn’t invent this concept, the convenience of the Wendy’s pick-up window is what many believe led to his rapid growth success when he decided to franchise his restaurant business.
In 1972, Dave opened his second restaurant and began franchising his Wendy’s restaurants, and adopted an aggressive franchising strategy. By 1973, there were four restaurants. The pick-up window concept, as well as launching an all you can eat salad bar in 1979 in the restaurants were two keys to rapidly growing loyal consumers. Within ten years there were about 1,000 restaurants, and by 1985 there were about 3,000, many of which were franchises.
In the 1980s, Wendy’s television advertisements became popular, with the iconic “Where’s the beef?” commercials becoming a cultural phenomenon. The company's focus on fresh, made-to-order food differentiated it from competitors and attracted both customers and franchisees.
It was at this time that Wendy's began expanding internationally, opening franchises in countries such as Canada, Mexico, and Japan. These international expansion efforts were supported by the franchising model, which allowed Wendy's to leverage local knowledge and resources.
In the 1990s, Wendy's faced a mix of challenges and successes as it continued to expand, opening new franchises both domestically and internationally. The company maintained its reputation for quality and innovation, which helped attract franchisees. Facing strong competition by other fast-food brands like McDonalds and Burger King was a challenge, as well as trying to avoid market saturation by being more strategic about where new restaurants were opened. The company continued to expand internationally, opening new franchises in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. This growth helped diversify Wendy's revenue streams and increased brand recognition worldwide.
in 1995, Wendy's acquired Tim Hortons, a Canadian coffee and donut chain. This acquisition provided additional growth opportunities and resources for Wendy's and its franchisees.
When Dave Thomas passed away on January 8, 2002, Wendy's had grown significantly since its founding. At that time, Wendy's had approximately 6,000 restaurants worldwide. This expansion included both company-owned and franchised locations, reflecting the successful growth strategy that Thomas and the company had implemented over the decades.
Dave Thomas's legacy in the franchising industry is marked by his innovations and commitment to quality, while his personal legacy is defined by his advocacy for adoption and philanthropic efforts. His impact continues to be felt in both areas.
- Drive Thru Window Service: Wendy's was one of the first chains to introduce a modern drive-thru system, which significantly improved efficiency and customer convenience.
- Fresh, Never Frozen Beef: Wendy's became known for its fresh, never frozen beef, differentiating itself from many competitors.
- Square Patties: The unique square-shaped patties became a signature of Wendy's, allowing the edges of the meat to hang over the bun, showcasing the quality of the product.
Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption: As an adopted child himself, Dave Thomas became a passionate advocate for adoption. He founded the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, which focuses on finding permanent homes for children in foster care.
Philanthropy: Beyond his work with adoption, Thomas was involved in various charitable activities. His philanthropic efforts extended to education and children's welfare.
Wikipedia: Dave Thomas
New York Times: Dave Thomas, Founder of Wendy's, Dies at 69
These books reflect Dave Thomas's commitment to sharing his knowledge and helping others achieve success, whether through entrepreneurial ventures or personal growth.
Dave's Way (1991) – Dave Thomas: This book outlines his journey in building Wendy's, his business principles, and the lessons he learned along the way. It serves as both an autobiography and a guide for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Well Done!: The Common Guy's Guide to Everyday Success (1994) – co-authored with Ron Beyma. Thomas offers practical advice on achieving success in both personal and professional life, drawing from his experiences and values.
Franchising for Dummies (2000) - Co-authored with Michael Seid. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the franchising process, aimed at both potential franchisees and franchisors. It covers the fundamentals of starting and running a franchise business.
There are several video interviews and appearances featuring Dave Thomas, providing insights into his business philosophy and personal journey. Here are two:
