The Briad Group has a lot to be proud of about its achievements in 2002. Although the challenging economy resulted in our not meeting overall financial goals for the year, we have been successful in many efforts to grow and support our business. We added seven new Wendy's restaurants, and are especially excited that the Briad hotels division is moving forward aggressively in the marketplace with four newly-constructed hotels opening in 2002 and two projected openings scheduled this year (see separate article).

In our restaurants division, we continued major technological and facility upgrades at all restaurants. This included exterior painting and upgrading, dining room renovation, installing upgraded computer systems, streamlining e-mail processes and developing a preventive maintenance schedule. Wendy's completed its Darling Grease System upgrade, and the Power Soak sink upgrades are in progress. DSL (high-speed) internet connections have been installed at a number of Wendy's locations, and an improved Wand point-of-sale system now facilitates order taking, handles special promotions and improves the accuracy of payroll reporting. Some T.G.I. Friday's received the Sailor computer system upgrade which networks all registers and the manager's office computer. In addition, the ordering and invoicing process at all T.G.I. Friday's locations has been streamlined by configuring computers to work with Willow Run ordering software.

All T.G.I. Friday's received new microwaves, and thanks to our astute IT staff, telephone costs were significantly reduced by eliminating unnecessary lines.

Our Wendy's brand had an outstanding year, increasing its overall sales and surpassing projected budget numbers. In a highly competitive industry, with new menu items being introduced and new technologies and systems being learned, maintaining excellent customer service is not an easy challenge to meet let alone exceed. In 2002 over 40 percent of our restaurants broke weekly sales records and the number of Dave's Way restaurants increased from 7 to 10. Our Service Excellence percentage doubled, as did the number of Certified Training restaurants. We reached 100 percent staffing early in the year and remained there, and crew and management turnover was significantly reduced. Everyone working at Briad's Wendy's and those "behind the scenes" made this success possible.

The T.G.I. Friday's brand faced a number of challenges in 2002, and the efforts of our managers and staff to address them have been a source of pride. We will once again be stretching ourselves with high expectations for 2003. We anticipate new and innovative advertising and marketing from Carlson Restaurants to support our people on the front lines. The appointment of Richard Snead as President of Carlson Restaurants Worldwide and Mike Archer as Executive VP of Domestic Operations brings the energy and enlightened leadership needed to successfully meet challenges and strengthen the brand. (Continued)