When was the last time you went to Wendy's for breakfast?
Okay, it's a trick question. By its own reckoning, Wendy's is one of the only fast-food chains not serving breakfast nationwide.
With as much as $150,000 in sales at stake at each location, Wendy's is trying to change that, calling breakfast its biggest opportunity. An expanded menu — including oatmeal bars, egg sandwiches, paninis and burritos — is being tested in Pittsburgh, Kansas City and Phoenix.
Wendy's, a division of Atlanta-based Wendy's/Arby's Group, will spend about $8 million this year to advertise its new breakfast menu in the test markets. The goal is to let consumers know about the expanded menu and to get franchisees to embrace the breakfast program, which Wendy's hopes to start rolling out nationally late next year, said chief financial officer Stephen Hare.
Wendy’s had a national breakfast menu in the mid-1980's, with items such as omelets, French toast and toasted sandwiches. But the items took too long to prepare and serve, and the chain discontinued the menu. In 2006, the company again began testing a new breakfast menu in a limited number of locations.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.