![]() Hardee had already opened and operated a series of restaurants and inns, including the Do Drop Inn and Silo Restaurant, in the Greenville area, when he got the idea for a quick-serve burger joint after visiting the state’s first McDonald’s. While Carl Karcher was in the midst of building his empire in California, Wilber Hardee’s dream of a fast food empire was just beginning in Greenville, NC, in 1960. Hardee's: Charring The Competition On The East Coast But the company’s biggest expansion wouldn’t come until the late ’90s. began dual-branding restaurants with quick-service Mexican food company Green Burrito. The 1980s brought much change to the chain, with higher priced meals and expansions into new states, a move made possible by the company’s first franchisees. restaurants continued popping up along the coast of California, and by 1976 Karcher Enterprises owned one of the largest fast food chains in the U.S., employing more than 5,000 employees. While those ventures couldn’t find an audience, Carl’s Jr. ![]() locations.Īnother brand from Karcher failed to catch on, the Scot’s coffee shops, where servers wore plaid skirts. By 1966, the three restaurants were converted to Carl’s Jr. But with other fast food brands in Southern California, like McDonald’s and Taco Bell, gaining popularity, Karcher began looking to new ventures.Īccording to Fast Food Nation, Karcher opened several Carl’s Whistle Stops, a railway-themed restaurant, featuring employees dressed as railroad workers, and electric trains shuttling orders to the kitchen. In 1964, Carl incorporated into Carl Karcher Enterprises (CKE Restaurants) and continued to build his brand. also featured a first, according to CKE: a drive-thru window. Starting in the 1960s, the new restaurants featured quick serve hamburgers, table service, music and the now iconic bright yellow five-pointed Happy Star. restaurants, a smaller version of the company’s original drive-in. With the rise of McDonald’s, Karcher knew he needed to revamp his business plans to keep up with the competition.īy 1956, Karcher had opened the first two Carl’s Jr. ![]() Not quite five years after the cart first opened for business, in 1945, the first stand-alone restaurant – called Carl’s Drive-In Barbeque – opened in Anaheim.Īccording to the book Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, the Karcher’s split the work at the new restaurant, with Carl cooking, Margaret managing the cash register and carhops serving the meals.īusiness soared at Carl’s Drive-In Barbeque following World War II, but a new hamburger joint was booming not far away. Soon after, business began to outpace the capacity of the single cart operating in Anaheim, CA, and the Karcher’s opened three additional carts. The first day of business, the couple’s sales totaled $14.75, CKE reports in its company history. ![]() Together with the $15 they had in savings, the couple spent $325 to enter the fast food business with the purchase of a hot dog cart. Starting on the Pacific coast in 1941 – nearly 20 years before future brother-company Hardee’s – Carl and Margaret Karcher borrowed $311 against their car. ![]()
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