A story of "launch" disaster: fast-food style
OP infers that McDonald's intended for Wendy's to fail on their first day.  Based upon my experience in foodservice (including 7 years with McDonald's), I don't believe it.  They never conducted business that way, and I doubt that they do now.<p>Years of study have taught something counter-intuitive in the fast food industry (especially in a small town where everybody knows everybody else): the better Wendy's does, the better McDonald's does.  With more choices downtown, there will be more traffic.<p>The best food service organizations welcome others, not as competitors to fight over a bigger piece of pie, but as "partners" to make the whole pie bigger.<p>It's up to us to figure out how this lesson applies to our industry.  There's probably a symbiotic relationship out there for us to find as well.