In message , at 21:20:18 on
Wed, 14 Mar 2012, Bruce remarked:
I often ate at the Wendy's in West Ealing. At the time - mid to late
80s - Wendy's was bigger than McDonald's. I don't know if that is
still the case,

Currently, Wendy's is a fifth the size of McDonalds (in number of
outlets).

but it seems odd that McDonald's is such a success here and Wendy's
wasn't.

McDonalds is especially popular in the UK because they welcome children.

I noticed a Wimpy Bar in Nottingham the other day. Not many of those
still in business. Reading the Wikipedia page gives some insight into
the reasons these chains rise and fall. Originally establish by Lyons,
they later came under common ownership with the UK's Burger King
franchisee, who converted most of them to BK (which they presumably saw
as the stronger brand). As I suspect is the case with McDonalds vs
Wendys, the food isn't as relevant as the branding and positioning of
the shops.
--
Roland Perry