Company Information

Cedar Enterprises, Inc. began operation in 1975 as Wendy's of Las Vegas, Inc. The company founder, Joseph D. Karam, personally knew Dave Thomas, Wendy's International, Inc. founder, through their work with charitable organizations in the community. Their friendship flourished and as Dave was looking for investors to develop Wendy's, he naturally turned to Joe. Joe was involved with an investment club that elected to use a portion of its assets to invest with Dave Thomas to help get Wendy's started. As Wendy's grew and decided to go public, the investment club decided to convert its investment into franchise rights for Clark County, Nevada.

After securing the franchise rights, Wendy's of Las Vegas began operations of its first store, located close to the campus of the University of Nevada Las Vegas. As the store grew, so did the company. Wendy's of Las Vegas added 12 units during the next 11 years. In 1986 Joe brought in his son David, a CPA, to enhance the accounting and information systems. David was well prepared for the occasion as he was already well versed in the Wendy's system, having worked in numerous capacities with Wendy's during high school and college.

David immediately saw the potential of the business and implemented an aggressive growth and operational strategy, as outlined in the attached Statement of Values, which is still in place today. During the next two years, the company added five new units and began the search for a potential acquisition. In July of 1989 the Company was able to complete the first acquisition, a stock purchase of 21 Wendy's units owned by Wendy's of San Antonio, Inc.

The Company continued to develop units in these two markets until July of 1993 when it acquired 17 units in the Indianapolis, Indiana area from Wendy's International. Shortly after the Indianapolis acquisition Cedar Enterprises was formed to serve as a holding company for the various subsidiaries.

In July of 1998 the company acquired 17 units in the Seattle, Washington area. Like the Indianapolis acquisition, these locations were acquired from Wendy's International. On April 15, 2002 Cedar made its most recent acquisition of 20 Wendy's units in the Hartford, Connecticut area from an existing Wendy's franchisee.

Cedar Enterprises (or one of its subsidiary divisions) has received virtually every major award that Wendy's International bestows on their franchisees. From the prestigious Founders Award that recognizes the top franchisee in the system to the Marketer of the Year, the Cedar family has been highly recognized in the Wendy's System. The Restaurant Finance Monitor lists Cedar Enterprises as the nineteenth largest franchised restaurant company in the country.