Schuessler also addressed the company's struggle with Baja Fresh. "Baja financial results are not acceptable," he said. "Toward the end of 2004, we took action to position the brand for future growth. We took a goodwill write-off of $190 million last November, and we closed 20 underperforming units. Also, we've brought in a new management team since last April."

He said the company was striving to "evolve the concept. There are new products, including kids' meal offerings, tortilla soup, and a fajita burrito, which we're currently working on," he noted, adding that in response to customer complaints, the restaurant's menu board has been made easier to read, and some seating configurations have been changed to make the restaurants easier to navigate with small children.

Regarding Wendy's itself, Schuessler called 2004 a year "competitive convergence," in which other companies imitated some of the chain's ideas, such as new salads, chicken strips, and "healthy options" (i.e., fruit instead of French fries) for kids' meals. He also said that because customers are now allowed to substitute for French fries with their combos, "we're now selling 120 more combos per restaurant per week than we did before this program."

The company and its franchisees opened a total of 550 new restaurants during 2004, consisting of 285 Wendy's, 224 Tim Hortons, 40 Baja Fresh and one Cafe Express, a new concept. "We're going to slow down the growth of Baja Fresh this year," said Schuessler. "We're only going to open about 20 to 25 units in 2005, mostly on the East and West coasts. The idea is to get everything right before we start growing again in a meaningful way."