Talk:Wimpy (restaurant)

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The 'Bar' was dropped from the name some time ago, I don't know which year. --Cfailde 10:28, 2004 Sep 5 (UTC)

I agree but am not clued up enough to change the links.

--Jirate 02:23, 7 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Competition from McDonalds?

In 1977 the business was acquired by United Biscuits. Wimpy was beginning to lose ground to McDonalds, who had opened their first UK restaurant in 1974

Is this actually true? I knew McDonalds had a handful of UK restaurants (mostly in London) by 1977, but I didn't think they were a serious threat to Wimpy here until at least the mid-1980s. 220.157.82.27 10:25, 19 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I think you're right. I've been looking through copies of The Times from the period. When United Biscuits (UB) bought Wimpy, they had a very poor image. in 1975 one of the major franchise holders, "London Eating Houses" (LEH) who owned 27 Wimpy Board and 13 other restaurants, lost a court case over health and safety when a woman found two cockroaches in here coffee, 2 months later LEH went bust. When UB bought Wimpy (along with "Golden Egg" and "Bake n'Take" restaurants) for £7million, a spokesman said "Our job will be to remove the present slightly tarnished image of Wimpy bars in the south and the company will be spending money to raise standards generally". - The Times, Thursday, Dec 09, 1976; pg. 1.

According to The Times, Monday, May 16, 1977; pg. 21; KFC had 260 sotes which they say was less than half the number of Wimpy's, and no mention of McDonalds. Jooler 11:53, 19 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

An article from The Times, Wednesday, Nov 29, 1978; pg. 27, describes the franchising schemes of KFC and Wimpy. It mentions McDonalds, Pizza Hut and BurgerKing stating that they have a foothold in the Uk, but it says that those are only company run restaurants and not franchised outlets. Jooler 11:56, 19 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

What about something on Mr Wimpy?

My father owns a Wimpy restaurant and has done for the last 21 years. Mr Wimpy was a character that was developed in the '60s, similar to Ronauld McDonald, however since the takeover by Famous Brands (SA) he has been (sadly) dropped. In addition to this the Megabite bunch (children's meals) characters have also been replaced by the characters that they use in the South African restaurants.

What about the 'Brown Derby' a curious product with a dubious name? 195.75.180.132 13:19, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I revisited Wimpey for the first time in years. A proper knife and fork with crockery plates and mugs gave it a far more adult experience. I have to say it also had a superior range of burgers to McDonalds and thicker chips (fuies), I especially liked the use of brown as well as sesame white buns. Just goes to show the power of marketing might convince us to eat left-overs if it was done well enough. Dainamo (talk) 13:47, 16 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Wimpy's food is far better than McDonald's. It's presented so neatly too. I love the plate and knife and fork. Even though it's fast food it doesn't feel like your eating fast food because your not using your hands. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pete147 (talk • contribs) 14:55, 16 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]