Hardee's Food Systems Inc history

However, Hardee decided to leave the partnership before expansion, and he sold his half of the company to Rawls and Gardner for $20,000 in June 1961.

In 1964, Hardee’s menu included hamburger for 15 cents, cheeseburger for 20 cents, fries for 10 cents, apple turnovers for 15 cents, milk for 12 cents, coffee for 10 cents, sodas for 15 cents each, and milkshakes for 20 cents.

And in 1968, a major expansion of the chain was launched.

In the mid-and-late 1970’s, Hardee’s profits grew because of its two key sandwiches which are the Big Twin and the Big Deluxe.

The company had also expanded into the northern part of the state and with this success, Carl’s Jr. built its Anaheim corporate headquarters in 1976.

And in 1978, it became the first QSR chain to offer salad bars in all of its 200 locations.

In 1979, their first out-of-state restaurant opened in Las Vegas.

From the 1980’s, Carl’s Jr. continued to expand and it had doubled its employee count in just three years, and by the end of the decade, there were 534 restaurants.

In 1981, Hardee’s was bought by Imasco Limited which is a Canadian company.

However, Karcher and his family were accused of insider trading by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1988.

Following its purchase of the Sandy’s and Burger Chef chains, Hardee’s continued to eliminate surrounding competitors, and in 1990 the company acquired 648-units of the Roy Rodgers restaurants.

On October 1, 1993, Karcher was removed as chairman of the company because there was an often clash between him and the board of directors over marketing and business practices.

In 1996, the company incorporated as Car Karcher Enterprises.

Hardee’s headquarters was moved to St Louis, Missouri in 2001.

"Flame Out? CKE Is Trying Again to Rejuvenate Hardee's." Restaurants & Institutions, April 1, 2002.

In 2003 the "Revolution" program was expanded to the rest of the chain with a supporting marketing campaign created by Mendelsohn/Zein Advertising, an agency based in Los Angeles.

Gilligan, Gregory J. "Changes at Hardee's Restaurants Pay Off." Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch, May 2, 2004.

Feldstein, Mary Jo. "Hardee's Goes to Paris for New Burger Campaign." St Louis Post-Dispatch, May 14, 2005.

However, that location no longer exist in the present time because it was demolished in 2007 and replaced with a veteran’s park named for Jack Laughery, who is Hardee’s former chairman and military veteran.

From 2010, Carl’s Jr., as well as Hardee’s, introduced other different burgers including the Charbroiled Turkey Burgers.

“History.” CKE Restaurants, Inc.,Website – About CKE, History. http://www.ckr.com/about_history.html#90s, (accessed July 21, 2011).

However, by the end of the first fiscal quarter of 2012, CKE reported that it operates nearly 3,200 restaurants—1,200 Carl’s Jr. locations and nearly 2,000 Hardee’s restaurants.

In September 2013, Hardee’s expanded to the Northeastern United States.