Okay, I swear this isn’t going to be a restaurant blog, but apparently some heretofore solid Columbus institutions are struggling and being eaten up by companies outside of the area.
In the same week that Wendy’s was acquired by a firm in Atlanta, Max and Erma’s is being acquired by a company in Pittsburgh–G&R Acquisition Inc for 10.2 million dollars. The deal will take the company private and leave in place the existing management.
The only thing I’ll say about Max and Erma’s is that its one of those places where you always want to go until you get there and see the menu.
By now, everyone in Columbus knows that Wendy’s was acquired by Nelson Peltz, CEO of Atlanta based Triarc Companies. Dave Thomas founded Wendy’s in 1969 here in Columbus where his original store remained open until March of 2007.
The sale of the company marks the loss of a local institution and the end of an era in Columbus. It also has the folks in Dublin a bit nervous about their jobs.
When a company as large as Wendy’s falters, there may be many reasons why and it helps to be an insider to know for sure. But as an outsider, I would guess that among the things that contributed to Wendy’s losing control of its company were the deaths of key executives–notably Dave Thomas–and a french fry problem.
Continue reading ‘What Happened to Wendy’s? Death and Fries.’
