Wimpy (restaurant)

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Wimpy
Type Wholly owned subsidiary
Founded Coventry Street, London in 1954
Founder J. Lyons and Co
Headquarters
Industry Restaurants
Products Fast Food
(hamburgers • chicken • french fries)
Parent Famous Brands
Website [1] UK Home page

Wimpy is the brand name of a chain of hamburger restaurants based in the United Kingdom. The restaurants were originally called Wimpy Bars and many people still refer to them by this name, despite the fact that the name "Wimpy Bar" was dropped in favour of "Wimpy" many years ago. The current owners of the Wimpy brand operate in several countries under the name of Wimpy International.

Contents

[edit] History

The Wimpy brand was created by in the 1930s. The name was inspired by the character of J. Wellington Wimpy from the Popeye cartoons created by Elzie Crisler Segar. Eddie Gold was running 12 restaurants by the early 1950s, when the concept of fast food came to the attention of the directors of J. Lyons and Co. Lyons licensed the brand for use in the United Kingdom and in 1954 the first "Wimpy Bar" Lyons was established at the Lyons Corner House in Coventry Street, London. Originally the bar was a special fast-food section within the more traditional Corner House restaurants, but the success soon led to the establishment of separate Wimpy restaurants serving only hamburger based meals. By the early 1970s the business had expanded to over a thousand restaurants in 23 countries.

In 1977 the business was acquired by United Biscuits. Wimpy was beginning to lose ground to McDonald's, who had opened their first UK restaurant in 1974 and so the new management of Wimpy began to streamline the business by converting some of the traditional "table service" restaurants to the "counter service" operation style of McDonald's. Another difference between Wimpy and McDonald's was that Wimpy had lacked branches that had a drive through format. In 1989 the business was sold to Grand Metropolitan (now Diageo). Grand Metropolitan had acquired Burger King the previous year and they began to convert the "counter service" restaurants to Burger King restaurants. In 1990 the remaining 220 "table service" restaurants were purchased by a management buy-out backed by 3i. A second management buy-out occurred in 2002.

Although Wimpy has decreased in numbers in the United Kingdom, it is still found in some towns and cities and at the RoadChef motorway services and at Megabowl bowling alleys. However the branches at RoadChefs and Megabowl have a counter service as opposed to a table service format.

On 27 February 2007 Famous Brands, who owns the Wimpy franchise in South Africa, announced that it had acquired Wimpy UK. Having acquired the brand Famous Brands has re-branded Wimpy in the UK to bring it in line with Wimpy South Africa. The 'new' logo is actually one used by Wimpy UK from the 1960's until the 1980's. [2]

Wimpy are said to be looking at a long term plan to bring the brand up to date and increase the number of units throughout the UK.

Wimpy have now taken their first steps into making all table service restaurants modern, they have now signed a deal with Coca Cola they have transferred from Pepsi Co. There is also a brand new menu available at Wimpy which is a lot bigger than the previous menu.

[edit] International

Wimpy opened in South Africa in Durban in 1967. The business was sold to Bakers SA Ltd in the late 1970s and later to the Steers Holdings Group. In 1976, Wimpy opened their first restaurant in Bogotá, Colombia. There are also branches trading as Wimpy in Cyprus, Saudi Arabia, Kenya and Beirut, Lebanon, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh.

Wimpy used to have many branches in Egypt, it was the first international burger restaurant in Egypt, but it closed its business by 1998.

There are a few outlets in Ireland, most combined with petrol stations. It has an outlet in Urlingford, County Kilkenny, Ireland, which is the location of the rest stop for buses between Dublin and Cork; and one in Celbridge, County Kildare. Most are located in Petrogas (Applegreen) petrol stations, as they hold the master franchise. [1]

[edit] References in popular culture

  • Wimpy was slyly mentioned as just one of a string of businesses, icons, and vignettes implicated in the Americanization of England, in the 1973 Genesis album, Selling England by the Pound, most notably in the opening track "Dancing With the Moonlit Knight," in the line, "Chewing through your Wimpy dreams/they eat without a sound/digesting England by the pound."
  • Wimpy was referenced in Jethro Tull's song "Up To Me" from the album Aqualung; "Take you to the cinema/and leave you in a Wimpy Bar/tell me that we've gone too far/well that's up to me"
  • A scene in the movie Gregory's Girl took place at the now closed Cumbernauld branch.
  • The Song "Better Off Dead", from Elton John's 1975 Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy album, is stated to be about "A Wimpy Bar" on the live recording of the album's performance, available on the 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition release.
  • The X-Ray Spex, who were known for their criticism of artificial consumer culture, mention buying a rubber bun from a Wimpy Bar in their 1978 song "The Day the World Turned Dayglo".
  • Stanley Moon (Dudley Moore), the lead character in Bedazzled, along with his love interest Margaret Spencer (Eleanor Bron) work at a Wimpy Bar in London. Stanley is a grill cook, while Margaret is the waitress.
  • In season one, episode 6, of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace (2004) after Dr. Lucien Sanchez (Matt Berry) gives Dr. Rick Dagless, M.D. (Matthew Holness) an enticing idea for dinner involving a poached egg in some soup, and a pork pie or sausage roll, Dagless responds with "I'll get a Wimpy," followed by Dr. Sanchez saying "Suit yourself, Dag."
  • In the novel Glue, by Irvine Welsh, the Wimpy is one of the common hang-outs of the teenage characters in the 1980s section.
  • In Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, a minor scene takes place in a Wimpy Bar.
  • John Cooper Clarke's poem "Psycle Sluts Parts I & II" ends with the lines "or the burger joint around the bend, where the meals thank Christ are skimpy; for you that's how the world could end, not with a bang but a Wimpy."
  • The chain is repeatedly referenced in John van de Ruit's Spud.
  • InThe Young Ones Series 1, Episode 4, Mike returns home with a wimpy takeaway.
  • In the BBC radio production of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Arthur Dent asks if the universe ends not with a bang but with a Wimpy.
  • In the 1967 film 'The Sorcerors', Ian Ogilvy's character enters a Wimpy Bar in London and says "give us a Wimpy please".
  • Del Quant and Irene Richarson, the two main characters in the 1969 film 'Bronco Bullfrog', have a scene in a Wimpy Bar in the West End of London.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Information on Wimpy's Franchise",Caterer Search. URL last accessed 2008-01-29

[edit] External links

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