The father of the value meal is a little girl named Wendy. According to industry lore, it was 20 years ago that the Wendy’s chain of hamburger restaurants introduced a menu of items priced at $1 or less.
Fast-food forward to 2009. While the concept of a value “meal” may have only a mild effect on convenience retailers (barring those heavily into foodservice), the larger concept of value for consumers in today’s dismal economy has become pivotal for retailers trying to balance traffic with profit.
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