Hardee's facts for kids
Logo used since 2022
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Hardee's restaurant in Salem, Virginia
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Fast-food restaurants |
| Founded | June 23, 1960 Rocky Mount, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Founder | Wilber Hardee |
| Headquarters | 6700 Tower Circle Franklin, Tennessee, U.S. |
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Number of locations
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5,812 (February 2016) |
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Area served
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United States, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates |
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Key people
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Ned Lyerly (CEO) |
| Products | |
| Parent | Imasco (1981–1997) CKE Restaurants (1997–present) |
Hardee's Restaurants LLC is a popular American fast-food restaurant chain. It is run by CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc.. You can find Hardee's restaurants mostly in the Southern and Midwestern United States. The company started in 1960 in North Carolina. Since then, it has grown and changed owners several times.
In April 1997, CKE Restaurants, which also owns Carl's Jr., bought Hardee's. This created a large chain of over 3,800 restaurants. In 2018, CKE announced that Carl's Jr. and Hardee's would become separate brands. This was because they wanted Hardee's to be more family-friendly. Ned Lyerly became the CEO in April 2019.
Hardee's first headquarters was built in 1960 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. It was a large complex with offices and warehouses. The company moved its main offices after CKE bought it.
Contents
History of Hardee's
How Hardee's Started
Wilber Hardee (1918–2008) opened his first restaurant. It was in Greenville, North Carolina, on September 3, 1960. After a successful year, Wilber wanted to open more locations. He met with James Gardner and Leonard Rawls to talk about expanding.
Soon after, the first company-owned store opened. It was in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, in May 1961. This store was opened by James Carson Gardner and Leonard Rawls. The original building was taken down in 2007. A park for veterans was built there instead.
Wilber Hardee later sold his shares in the company. Gardner and Rawls then started setting up franchises in 1961. A franchise is a business that pays to use a company's name and system. Hardee's Food Systems became a public company in 1963. This meant people could buy shares in it.
Early Menu and Growth
In 1964, the Hardee's menu was simple. A hamburger cost 15 cents, and a cheeseburger was 20 cents. You could get french fries for 10 cents. They also sold apple turnovers, milk, coffee, soft drinks, and milkshakes.
By the end of the 1960s, Hardee's had almost 200 restaurants. They were in the Midwest and Southeastern U.S. They also opened their first international locations in West Germany. Hardee's also started expanding into states like Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.
New Additions and Changes
Hardee's bought another restaurant chain called Sandy's in 1972. In the 1970s, Hardee's grew quickly. Their popular sandwiches were the "Big Twin" and the "Big Deluxe." They also bought Dee's Drive-In, another burger chain.
In 1977, Hardee's started offering a breakfast menu. This included their famous "Made from Scratch" breakfast biscuits. These biscuits became very popular across the country.
A Canadian company called Imasco Limited bought Hardee's in 1981. In 1982, Imasco also bought Burger Chef. Many Burger Chef locations were changed into Hardee's restaurants.
For a few years in the early 1990s, Hardee's sold fried chicken. This chicken used the recipe from Roy Rogers Restaurants, which Hardee's had also bought. Hardee's also owned Rax Roast Beef for a while. During that time, they sold roast beef sandwiches.
Merger with Carl's Jr. and Aftermath
In April 1997, CKE Restaurants, the company that owns Carl's Jr., bought Hardee's. This created a huge chain of restaurants. There were over 3,100 Hardee's locations and 676 Carl's Jr. locations.
At first, CKE thought about changing all Hardee's restaurants to Carl's Jr. They even tried this in some cities. However, Hardee's had very strong sales during breakfast. So, by 1999, CKE decided to keep the Hardee's name. They did, however, update Hardee's to look more like Carl's Jr. This included using the "Happy Star" logo. They also added some of Carl's Jr.'s lunch items. But the popular Hardee's breakfast menu stayed the same.
In 2001, Hardee's main office moved to St. Louis, Missouri. In 2005, Hardee's started offering Hand-Scooped Ice Cream Shakes and Malts.
By March 2016, CKE had over 3,600 restaurants. These were in 44 states and 37 other countries. In July 2015, Hardee's started offering "The All-Natural Burger." This burger was first launched at Carl's Jr. restaurants.
Advertising
In 2006, Hardee's introduced a new logo. It had script writing and kept the famous Happy Star. This helped to make the Hardee's and Carl's Jr. brands look more alike.
Changes in Advertising Style
In March 2017, Hardee's started to change its advertising style. They released a commercial with a new character named "Carl Hardee Sr." He was played by actor Charles Esten. In the ad, Carl Hardee Sr. returns to the office. He finds his son, "Carl Jr.," focusing on flashy ads instead of the food. This commercial showed that CKE wanted to change its advertising. They wanted to focus more on the food itself. They also wanted to compete with other burger chains like Five Guys and In-N-Out Burger. "Carl Hardee Sr." was planned to be the new face of the company.
In 2018, CKE started making separate ad campaigns for Hardee's and Carl's Jr. For Hardee's, they launched the Tastes Like America campaign. This campaign brought back Hardee's 1976 logo, but in white. The Happy Star still appeared, replacing the "A" in "Tastes."
International Franchises
Many Hardee's restaurants outside the U.S. are in the Middle East and Pakistan. Most of these are owned and run by the Americana Group. The Americana Group opened the first Hardee's in the Middle East in Kuwait in June 1980.
As of 2016, there are over 300 Hardee's restaurants in Asia and the Middle East. You can find them in countries like Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. There are also plans to open in Israel.
In the Middle East and Pakistan, the Hardee's menu does not include any pork items. All beef served is certified Halal. This means it follows religious and cultural rules. Hardee's opened its first restaurant in Pakistan in 2009 in Lahore. There are now 18 locations in Pakistan.
There is also a Hardee's restaurant at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, in Africa.
See also
In Spanish: Hardee's para niños
- Carl's Jr.
- Jack Laughery
- List of hamburger restaurants
