Consolidated Statements of Operations (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Jan. 01, 2012	Jan. 02, 2011	Jan. 03, 2010
Revenues:
Sales	$ 2,126,544	$ 2,079,081	$ 2,134,242
Franchise revenues	304,814	296,358	302,853
Revenues	2,431,358	2,375,439	2,437,095
Costs and expenses:
Cost of sales	1,816,109	1,756,954	1,812,056
General and administrative	292,390	311,511	353,148
Depreciation and amortization	122,992	126,846	134,063
Impairment of long-lived assets	12,883	26,326	25,619
Transaction related and other costs	45,711	0	0
Merger restructuring	0	0	11,096
Other operating expense, net	4,152	3,357	3,469
Costs and expenses	2,294,237	2,224,994	2,339,451
Operating profit	137,121	150,445	97,644
Interest expense	(114,110)	(118,385)	(106,878)
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	0	(26,197)	0
Investment income (expense), net	484	5,259	(3,092)
Other than temporary losses on investments	0	0	(3,916)
Other income (expense), net	945	2,434	(20)
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes	24,440	13,556	(16,262)
(Provision for) benefit from income taxes	(6,528)	4,555	21,640
Income from continuing operations	17,912	18,111	5,378
Discontinued operations:
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of income taxes	762	(22,436)	(316)
Loss on disposal of Arby’s	(8,799)	0	0
Net loss from discontinued operations	(8,037)	(22,436)	(316)
Net income (loss)	9,875	(4,325)	5,062
Basic and Diluted Earnings Per Share:
Continuing operations	$ 0.04	$ 0.04	$ 0.01
Discontinued operations	$ (0.02)	$ (0.05)	$ 0.00
Net income (loss)	$ 0.02	$ (0.01)	$ 0.01
Dividends per share:	$ 0.08	$ 0.07	$ 0.06
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member]
Revenues:
Sales	2,126,544	2,079,081	2,134,242
Franchise revenues	304,814	296,358	302,853
Revenues	2,431,358	2,375,439	2,437,095
Costs and expenses:
Cost of sales	1,816,109	1,756,954	1,812,052
General and administrative	281,591	303,324	343,121
Depreciation and amortization	122,365	124,984	132,318
Impairment of long-lived assets	12,883	26,326	23,443
Transaction related and other costs	44,477	0	0
Merger restructuring	0	0	8,088
Other operating expense, net	4,041	3,494	2,453
Costs and expenses	2,281,466	2,215,082	2,321,475
Operating profit	149,892	160,357	115,620
Interest expense	(113,243)	(117,349)	(105,562)
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	0	(26,197)	0
Other income (expense), net	943	1,317	(4,600)
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes	37,592	18,128	5,458
(Provision for) benefit from income taxes	(16,622)	1,670	6,053
Income from continuing operations	20,970	19,798	11,511
Discontinued operations:
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of income taxes	762	(22,436)	(1,862)
Loss on disposal of Arby’s	(8,799)	0	0
Net loss from discontinued operations	(8,037)	(22,436)	(1,862)
Net income (loss)	$ 12,933	$ (2,638)	$ 9,649