Still, the company announced earlier this year that foot traffic to its restaurants had slowed as inflation increased.
It’s not just foot traffic I’m sure. That’s what happens when a business sees a temporary 9% inflation bump as a good time to increase all prices 30%+ across the board. McDonald’s is nearly as expensive as Five Guys in my area now. They forgot what market niche they were filling when they got greedy. What used to be a $3 meal off the dollar menu is now $8 for the same items, and the “deals” all suck unless you want those specific 3 options or a discount equivalent to the sales tax.
For my $, Wendy’s is winning the value competition. Their value deals are cheap and decent, their reward system is better, their online deals are better. Subjectively, I like the taste better, so that’s nice too.
BK and McD offer better deals at volume than for a single person meal, but even then it’s not better than Wendy’s. Single person it’s just not even a contest.
Hmm. So, setting aside the business discussion, I personally prefer Wendy’s too, but there are also a fair bit more McDonald’s locations out there than there are Wendy’s locations (not even to mention the European Union situation, where Wendy’s isn’t present at all due to a trademark dispute with some Dutch restaurant). So it’s not always an option to do Wendy’s.
According to its website, Wendy’s currently has locations in 30 countries around the world, in the following regions: Asia Pacific, Caribbean, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Latin America and of course, North America. There’s just one region that shouldn’t be on that list: Europe. There are still no European Wendy’s locations, and the reason might surprise you.
So what’s the deal? Well, there used to be a Wendy’s in Europe. Back in 1979, the first European location opened in Munich, Germany. Following this, several more locations opened up in the Benelux region (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) and elsewhere, but they didn’t remain open past the late '80’s.
In 1988, a man named Raymond Warrens decided to open a restaurant in Goes, Netherlands and named it—you guessed it—Wendy’s, after his youngest daughter. As the American Wendy’s activity dwindled in Europe, Warrens decided to register a trademark for the name in 1995. He got it, and American Wendy’s was prohibited from opening any future locations in the Benelux region.
Since the year 2000, Wendy’s has been embroiled in a legal war with the Dutch Wendy’s, attempting over and over to acquire a European trademark. Dutch courts, however, continuously side with Dutch Wendy’s because if American Wendy’s did win the rights to a trademark, countries from the Benelux region would be included as they are part of Europe, and that would infringe on Dutch Wendy’s rights.
So there you have it. That’s why there are no delicious old fashioned hamburgers, spicy chicken sandwiches, Frosty’s or the famous baked potato with sour cream and chives in Europe. Well you might find all of these at other fast food places; they just won’t be descended from Dave Thomas’s legacy.
It’s not just foot traffic I’m sure. That’s what happens when a business sees a temporary 9% inflation bump as a good time to increase all prices 30%+ across the board. McDonald’s is nearly as expensive as Five Guys in my area now. They forgot what market niche they were filling when they got greedy. What used to be a $3 meal off the dollar menu is now $8 for the same items, and the “deals” all suck unless you want those specific 3 options or a discount equivalent to the sales tax.
For my $, Wendy’s is winning the value competition. Their value deals are cheap and decent, their reward system is better, their online deals are better. Subjectively, I like the taste better, so that’s nice too.
BK and McD offer better deals at volume than for a single person meal, but even then it’s not better than Wendy’s. Single person it’s just not even a contest.
In the race between BK, McD, and Wendy’s, Chipotle is winning the value competition
Hmm. So, setting aside the business discussion, I personally prefer Wendy’s too, but there are also a fair bit more McDonald’s locations out there than there are Wendy’s locations (not even to mention the European Union situation, where Wendy’s isn’t present at all due to a trademark dispute with some Dutch restaurant). So it’s not always an option to do Wendy’s.
https://locations.wendys.com/
This has 6,029 Wendy’s locations in the US.
McDonalds doesn’t appear to say, but it looks like these guys run a count:
https://www.scrapehero.com/location-reports/McDonalds-USA/
They have 13,529 McDonald’s locations in the US.
I’m pretty sure that’s not the actual reason. Nothing is stopping them from operating in the EU under a different name.
They could, but that’s at a significant disadvantage, since a lot of a franchise is its brand.
https://www.gourmandize.com/article-8303-why-are-there-no-wendy-s-in-europe.htm