Wendy Thomas: Daddy's Girl Gets Back To Burgers

Wendy's back. The fast-food chain's namesake has joined with her brother and three sisters to buy 15 Wendy's restaurants near Columbus, Ohio, where dad Dave Thomas opened his first hamburger joint in 1969.

Wendy Thomas has been a franchisee before, but she sold her five Dallas outlets in 1999. After her father died in 2002, she says, the children wanted to do something as a family. "We just felt this big hole in our heart. And we thought of Wendy's because it was dad." The terms of their Oct. 2 deal were not disclosed, but franchises typically sell for $500,000 or more, plus land.