Someone's Rooting for Wendy's — and It's Not Wall Street

Local News

If you're a dog person — or you've been thinking about becoming one — this Saturday's Dublin Market has something worth knowing about. Ohio Pet Charities is bringing Barkers Market to Bridge Park from 9 a.m. to noon, with about 25 organizations taking part — rescues, charities, pet vendors, and veterinarians set up alongside the regular market.

The organization behind it isn't a rescue itself — it's a group that supports other rescues by giving them free space at events like this one to get in front of people. The money they raise goes into their Furry Friends Fund, which helps pet owners cover the cost of life-saving surgeries when they can't afford it on their own. Their most recent recipient was Scrappy — a severely abused dog who, despite everything he went through, is now thriving in a forever home.

The Dublin Market is already a great reason to get out Saturday morning — and now you've got one more.

More details here.

Local News

If your family is new to Dublin and your kids will be starting at Dublin City Schools this fall, there's one thing worth doing before August 13: enroll now. Processing times slow down significantly as the school year gets closer, and enrollments submitted after August 13 may not be processed before the first day of school — which means your child could miss starting with their classmates.

The earlier you get it done, the smoother the start. Begin the enrollment process here.

Local News

A few months back we mentioned that Wendy's — headquartered right here in Dublin — was in talks about potentially going private, with longtime investor Nelson Peltz exploring a buyout. A lot has happened since then, and it's worth an update.

First, Wendy's has a new CEO. Bob Wright took over in May — this is actually his third stint with the company — and he just brought his CFO from Potbelly with him, Steve Cirulis. The two of them ran a turnaround at Potbelly that ended with a 500% increase in share price. Whether they can repeat that at a much larger company is the open question, but the early moves suggest Wright is serious about building a real team rather than just holding the seat.

Peltz, meanwhile, still hasn't said anything. His firm filed a disclosure earlier this year flagging it was exploring potential transactions, and then went quiet. With a permanent CEO now in place, whatever Peltz is planning — if anything — gets more interesting.

And then there's this: a wave of everyday investors on social media decided this week that Wendy's is worth betting on. The sentiment spread quickly online — people rooting for an iconic brand to make a comeback — and the stock jumped over 13% in a week. Wall Street analysts are largely sitting on the sidelines. The internet, apparently, is not.

Whether the social media crowd sticks around or moves on to the next stock is anyone's guess. But for a Dublin company that's been through a rough few years, there's something interesting about a bunch of everyday investors essentially saying they believe in it — even if Wall Street mostly doesn't yet.