Business & Tech

After Fast Food Workers' Wage Strike, Millionaire Athletes Take over Area Wendy's

Chauncey Billups and Junior Bridgeman are the new owners of the Ballwin and other St. Louis area Wendy's restaurants.

The Ballwin Wendy's restaurant that just last month was targeted by activists rallying against "modern-day slavery" is now under new ownership.

Under terms of the deal completed Monday and announced Tuesday, former NBA player Junior Bridgeman and current Detroit Pistons guard Chauncey Billups now owns a total of 30 Wendy's St. Louis restaurants, including the Ballwin location on Manchester Road.

Billups recently signed a two-year, $5 million deal with the Detroit Pistons. Forbes included Bridgeman in the publication's 2009 list of the Wealthiest Black Americans, at an estimated $200 million. Both have been active leaders of the NBA Players Association, with Bridgeman serving as President in the 1980s.

Bridgeman, according to a Wendy's statement, was already the second largest franchisee in the company, and will have at least partial ownership of nearly 200 of the restaurants.

The Ballwin site and the still-under-construction Chesterfield location are the newest restaurant designs. With the agreement, more than 20 other locations will be brought up to date with the same look and feel, according to Bob Pertini, a company spokesman.

"It's very bold. It's contemporary. They're designed to greatly enhance the customer experience," he added.

The deal comes just a few weeks after the Ballwin location, where Billups and Bridgeman posed for a photo to highlight the announcement, was chosen as a venue for fast food workers to protest over wages, benefits and a lack of the ability to organize.

One worker in Ballwin said she equated the environment there as akin to "Modern Day Slavery."

Messages seeking comment from Bridgeman and Billups were not returned as of Tuesday afternoon.

"Wendy's provides a place for thousands of people to start their careers, gain life skills and then advance," inside or out of the company, Pertini said. "We're proud of the fact that we do that."


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