The Wendy’s in Minden closed several months ago, after over 13 years of being in business. I knew the place well; it was my first job in high school, and I stayed there for a couple of years. But business was slow almost from the first day it opened, mostly because it was difficult to figure out how to get to it—the driveway was several hundred yards down the highway, and you’d usually have to make a u-turn no matter which direction you were headed. So, after several years of trying to make financial sense out of it, owner Ron Tolotti threw in the towel and shut the doors in February of this year. The building went up for sale, and immediately everyone started to wonder who would buy it and what would reopen in that space.
Well, this week I got a tip as to the future of the building. It seems that the little cinder block building is due to become the Carson Valley’s second Starbucks store. You’d think there would be more Starbucks stores in the valley, since we’re the home of one of only three Starbucks roasting plants in the U.S. But right now there’s just the one store in Gardnerville by the Scolari’s Market, plus the one in the new Carson Valley Plaza (which isn’t really in the Carson Valley at all). Putting a Starbucks in the old Wendy’s, which is one of the last commercial buildings you pass as you’re leaving town, would make sense if they wanted to capture all those commuters that travel Highway 395 going to Carson. The shopping center still has the access problems it did 13 years ago, but I think if someone needs their early-morning Starbucks fix, they’ll find a way to get there.
So is it true? Or will nothing come of it, and the Wendy’s will remain shuttered for months to come? Only time will tell.
