CHAIN -- Carl's Jr
Owner -- CKE Restaurants (NYSE: CKR)
Primary Operating Region -- Western US
Number of Locations --  1,221 (November 2009)

Saturday night, 8:30pm, at Carl's Jr. in Fort Collins, CO.  It's dark out, but the exterior building lights are all out (the parking lot lights are on).  The lights are on inside, and there are people in there eating, so I investigate.  The sign on the door says they're open till 11pm, so I go in.

"Do you know your exterior lights are off?"

"They are?" the girl behind the counter says as she peeks out the window then turns back to me as if to say "Oh well".

I ask about the (new at the time) promotional burger on the posters...The Six Dollar Burger...which they sell for $3.95.  I get a vague description that sounds like every burger on the menu.  "Is it bigger?" I ask.  "Yes."  "I'll try one." "We're out of them until morning."

Morning.  Sunday morning.  Who delivers supplies on Sunday morning?  I suppose this means maybe they ran out of some important ingredient, but nobody is available to get more of it from another store, or it could mean that this burger takes effort to make and they're just too lazy after a certain time.  Given my experience with this particular Carl's, I go with the latter and leave, having dinner elsewhere.  On the way back, I pass the same Carl's.  Sure enough, they have done nothing about the lights.

Carl's Jr of Fort Collins is an exception to the rule. Like many Colorado Carl's, it's an old Hardee's and it hasn't quite shaken all the "Hardee's-isms" out.  The Hardee's franchisees in Colorado converted to the Carl's concept when Carl's first entered the market via express locations in gas stations.  Between the gas stations and the Hardee's locations, Carl's quickly became a force in Colorado.  

Carl Karcher is the Carl in Carl's Jr.  Karcher was born in 1917 in Sandusky, OH.  He moved to Anaheim in 1937 to work in his uncle's seed store.  He later delivered baked goods and ended up buying one of his stops...a hot dog stand.  Karcher and his wife grew the stand into an empire of four before opening Carl's Drive-In Barbeque in 1945.  Carl's Jr debuted in 1956, so-named because it was considered a "junior" version of the original drive-in.  It was modeled directly after the original McDonald's, which by then was pioneering the modern day fast food industry.  Carl's Jr spent the next couple of decades expanding and innovating, introducing several firsts to fast food restaurants like padded seating and partial dining room service.  The first out-of-California restaurant opened in 1979.  The first franchised location opened in 1984.  From there forward, Carl's Jr expanded across the West. Problems came in the 1980's when CKE went public.  Stock prices fell after a failed expansion into Texas.  Karcher was charged with insider trading and had some failed real estate investments.  In 1993, CKE's board fired their founder.

Karcher didn't take much time to act.  He enlisted William P Foley, a financier and sort of accumulator of titles that has ultimately included: Chairman of the Board of CKE Restaurants (Carl's Jr), Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, and Santa Barbara Restaurant Group,  Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Micro General Corporation, and a Director of American National Financial, Dataworks Corporation, Fresh Foods, and Miravant Medical Technologies.  And you thought collecting baseball cards was silly.  Foley also somehow found time to own a vineyard.

Foley headed a partnership that took over the company.  Karcher was named chairman emeritus.  Karcher passed away in 2008.

Carl's Jr took several steps to modernize restaurants and get back on track.  Carl's Jr succeeded.

The key to Carl's Jr's success was that everything from the product line to the restaurant decor to the employees was designed to appear more upscale than the typical fast-food restaurant (in a sort of "Target vs. Wal-Mart" sort of way).  Carl's marketed their double-patty sandwiches over the single versions.  Carl's sandwiches were topped like no other for a big sloppy homemade taste.  Carl's introduced unusual sandwiches to the menu like the Western Bacon Cheeseburger, topped in barbecue sauce and onion rings (long before the Burger King "Rodeo")  and the Sirloin Steak sandwich.  Carl's had one of the more extensive chicken sandwich lines.  Carl's added salad bars and offered alternates to fries such as baked potatoes and fried zucchini.  Carl's made your food to order and brought it to your table.  Carl's is largely credited with the self-serve all-you-can-drink soda format.  Carl's co-branded locations with a Mexican chain called Green Burrito.  Carl's...ruled.

Growth would probably have continued in fine form if it weren't for one little shortcut CKE decided to take on with the intention of making Carl's Jr a national presence...Hardee's.  It started out as an innocent enough idea...Turn the entire chain into Carl's Jr outlets with the Hardee's breakfast menu.  To say this didn't work out would be an understatement.  Hardee's...until very recently...was a colossal failure under CKE that has served little more than to bleed money and cause headaches.  CKE  actually watched almost as many Hardee's locations close since they purchased them than there ARE Carl's Jr locations in the first place.  One has to wonder where Carl's Jr would be today if they'd spent the money they did on Hardee's simply expanding Carl's with new stores in new markets.

Carl's latest menu offerings have followed the "Six Dollar Burger" format for the most part...there's a whole line of those now (including a one-pound double).   The "Star" sandwiches have been remarketed as "Carl's Classics".  I still love me a Famous Star when I can get one.

Premium sandwiches and service still make Carl's a step above the competition.

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