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Carl's Jr.
Company typeWholly owned subsidiary
IndustryFast food
Founded1941
HeadquartersDelray Beach, Florida U.S.
Number of locations
1,385 (April 2015)
Key people
Carl Karcher, Margaret Karcher, Founders
ProductsFast food
ParentCKE Restaurants
WebsiteCarlsJr.com

Carl's Jr. is an American-based fast-food restaurant chain operating in the Western and Southwestern states. As of 2015 it has started expanding or is already in Canada, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Malaysia, Denmark, Guatemala, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Singapore, Russia, Vietnam, Thailand, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Turkey, Indonesia, United Kingdom,[1] China, The Bahamas, and Mexico. CKE Restaurants, Inc owns the chain.

Carl Karcher founded the predecessor of Carl's Jr. in 1941; he jump-started his operations with the opening of his first restaurant, a sit-down full-service location called Carl's Drive-In Barbeque. As this grew wildly successful, he decided to open up a chain of smaller restaurants called Carl's, with more limited menus. In 1954, the chain was renamed Carl's Jr. and the fast-food chain took off.[citation needed] In combination with its sibling restaurant-chain Hardee's, Carl's Jr. is in the top ten fast-food chains in the United States after Subway (33,000+ locations), McDonald's (32,000+ locations),[2][3] Jack in the Box (2,200 locations), KFC (17,000 locations), Burger King (11,500+ locations),[4] Wendy's (6,700+ locations),[5] Taco Bell (6000+ locations), Popeyes (1900 locations), Chick-fil-A (1700 locations) and Church's Chicken (1600+ locations).

Company profile

History

In 1941 Carl Karcher and his wife, Margaret Karcher (née. Heinz), borrowed $311 on their Plymouth automobile and purchased a hot dog cart which they operated at 1108 North Harbor Boulevard in Anaheim, California. One cart grew to four, including a location at Florence and Central in South L.A. In less than five years, they owned a restaurant with hamburgers on the menu in Anaheim, California called Carl's Drive-In Barbeque.[6] In 1956, Karcher opened the first two Carl's Jr. restaurants — so named because they were a smaller version of his drive-in restaurant — in Anaheim and Brea. The restaurant chain was characterized by its fast service, table service as a standard feature, and its logo, the bright yellow five-pointed Happy Star. CKE's other chain, Hardee's, now shares this logo, after a post-merge rebranding.

A Carl's Jr. in Rancho Cordova, California

In 1981, with 300 restaurants in operation, Carl Karcher Enterprises became a publicly held company. In 1988, Carl and his family were accused of insider trading by the Securities and Exchange Commission. They had sold large quantities of stock before the price dropped. Carl agreed to a settlement with the SEC and paid more than half a million dollars in fines.[7]

The late 1980s and 1990s brought trouble early on and success later. Carl's Jr. chains had struggled to gain success in Arizona and Texas, perhaps diminishing hopes of expansion to other states, though later states like Nevada, Oregon and Washington proved successful. During the 1990s Karcher and the Board of Directors began clashing over marketing and business practices, including the chain's attempt at dual branding with such chains as The Green Burrito, which led to Karcher's ouster as Chief Executive Officer in 1993. Soon after, the Board of Directors took a new approach by cutting the menu, lowering prices, and introducing a new marketing campaign which targeted younger urban and suburban males. During this time, commercials for Carl's Jr. featured an animated caricature of Carl Karcher and the chain's mascot, Happy Star.

During the mid-1990s, Carl's Jr. unveiled its "If it doesn't get all over the place, it doesn't belong in your face" campaign which featured younger people eating Carl's Jr.'s burgers with ketchup and juice dripping from the burger and onto clothes and other areas.[citation needed]

Carl's Jr. expanded, and currently has more than 1,000 locations in 13 U.S. states, as well as in Mexico, Costa Rica, Singapore and Russia. In 2007, five new branches were opened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, located at 1-Utama Shopping Complex, Midvalley Megamall, Sunway Pyramid, Mines Shopping Fair and the new Pavilion KL Shopping Complex is the first branch they opened for their comeback. In total, there have been seven branches in Malaysia. The Masjid Jamek branch, Ampang Park branch and the Lake Gardens branch were closed in 1998.[citation needed]

Featured food items include the Double Western Bacon Cheeseburger and the Six Dollar Burger, so called because it is claimed to be of the same quality of a burger one would pay six dollars for in a sit-down restaurant. In May 2005, Carl's Jr. introduced "The Spicy BBQ Six Dollar Burger" in a controversial advertising campaign (see below).[8]

In 1997, CKE Restaurants acquired Hardee's, a restaurant chain with 2,500 locations in the Midwest, South and East Coast regions. Hardee's restaurants are gradually being converted to be more like Carl's Jr. with some of the same menu items and even adopting the same star logo. In turn, Carl's Jr. restaurants started to sell Hardee's breakfast items. The chain opened at least one restaurant in a former Rally's location in Hollywood with a drive-thru lane, walk-up window and no interior seating. This location carried the unique branding Carl's Jr. Jr. This restaurant operated for over 10 years, but as of 2011 has been replaced by a Chick-Fil-A.[citation needed]

Carl's Jr. in Denton, Texas opened on August 12, 2009. This restaurant is on Loop 288 about two blocks from Golden Triangle Mall.

In 2002, CKE Restaurants, Inc. acquired Santa Barbara Restaurant Group (the parent company of the Green Burrito brand). Some Carl's Jr. and Hardee's stores are now co-branded as Green Burrito locations. Three Carl's Jr. locations in downtown Los Angeles serve beer: Macy's Plaza on 7th & Flower, California Mart at Main & Olympic, and Citigroup Plaza at 5th & Flower.[9]

In October 2006, Carl's Jr. and sister-company Hardee's introduced a promotion with The Palms Casino Hotel to sell a $6,000 Combo Meal exclusively at The Palms. This meal includes the signature Six Dollar Burger, fries, and a $6,000 bottle of French Bordeaux. This meal is available on the Palms room service menu.[citation needed]

In 2008, Carl's Jr. expanded into American Samoa, alongside fellow competitors McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut and Checkers.[citation needed]

On January 11, 2008, Carl Karcher, the founder of hamburger chain Carl's Jr., died at the age of 90. A spokeswoman for CKE Restaurants said Mr. Karcher suffered from Parkinson's disease and was being treated for Parkinson's-related pneumonia when he died at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, California. Many Carl's Jr. restaurants flew their flags at half-staff in memory of Karcher.[citation needed]

Carl's Jr. in Missouri City, Texas opened on March 15, 2011.

In February 2009, CKE Restaurants announced that Texas would be their top growth market for the next five years. Franchisee deals were made with two companies to open Carl's Jr. locations in the Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston markets. The franchisees plan to open 193 new restaurants in Texas over the next 10 years.[10] Carl's Jr. had initially expanded into Texas in 1984, but due to the poor state economy most locations never met sales expectations. By 1987, Carl's Jr. had temporarily pulled out of Texas entirely closing approximately 36 locations.[11] Another attempt to bring the chain to Texas occurred in the 1990s.

January 12, 2010 CKE announced deal to expand into the Houston metropolitan area, with the first two locations opening along Highway 6 on the west side.[12]

In 2015 enters in the Colombian market with their first restaurant in Bogotá.[13] In April 2015 the chain opens their first restaurant in Guatemala City.

Co-branding

Carl's Jr and Green Burrito restaurant in Bell, California

In several Western U.S. locations, Carl's Jr. parent CKE has begun operating co-branded restaurants with its Green Burrito group. This is a similar strategy used by Yum! Brands with its KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, A&W Restaurants, and Long John Silver's concepts to help expand brands without the additional expense of new buildings and land.[14]

Taco de Carlos was a fast-food Mexican restaurant chain that spun off from Carl's Jr. In 1972 Carl Karcher Enterprises decided to get in on the Mexican fast-food business because it was a new phenomenon that was proving successful with Taco Bell going public just a few years earlier. Taco de Carlos offered menu items not found on Taco Bell, like the California Burrito, with the green chili, and the Machaca Burrito. It also served up the standard Carl's Jr. burgers. Some of the Taco de Carlos locations opened next door to a Carl's Jr. By the end of the 1970s Taco de Carlos had 17 locations. Carl Karcher Enterprises could never muster up enough business attention for Taco de Carlos, and the taco chain found itself in financial distress. Meanwhile, the bigger names like Taco Bell, Del Taco, Naugles, and Pup-n-Taco were enjoying success. In the early 1980s Carl Karcher Enterprises sold off most of its Taco de Carlos locations to Del Taco, and the rest to other buyers. In 1988, after strengthening the Carl's Jr. brand, they decided to try their luck again with fast-food Mexican fare, Italian fare, and even some locations began a trial run of more gourmet products including but not limited to restaurants in the local areas. Most restaurants broke off of Carl's Jr. and struck up a co-branding deal with Green Burrito.[15][16]

Advertising

When Carl's Jr. first started rebranding Hardee's locations to the Carl's Jr. livery in 1999, the two chains mostly kept separate ads. This changed with the now-infamous Paris Hilton ad (see below), which aired as either for Carl's Jr. or Hardee's, depending on where the ads aired. This would continue with other ads for the next several years. including ads by Kate Upton, Kim Kardashian, Sara Sampaio, Emily Ratajkowski, and Sara Jean Underwood.[17][18]

With the two chains now selling many common menu items by 2013, Carl's Jr. began to advertise nationally in conjunction with Hardee's for products that both chains sell, with much of that coming during WWE programming. Carl's Jr. takes precedence in the ads for lunch & dinner menu items, while Hardee's takes precedence for breakfast items. Some of the items sold by both chains are branded as Thickburgers, even though they are different burgers.


In June 2015, Carl's Jr. unveiled its patriotic commercial "The Most American Thickburger Commercial" featuring Samantha Hoopes [19].

Paris Hilton campaign

In May 2005, Carl's Jr. introduced its "Spicy BBQ Six Dollar Burger" in a television advertisement created by Mendelsohn Zien Advertising, which features Paris Hilton in a provocative swimsuit soaping up a Bentley automobile and crawling all over it before taking a big bite out of her burger and giving her signature phrase, "That's hot."[8]

YouTube campaign

Carl's Jr. paid nine popular YouTube users to promote their Portobello Mushroom $6 Burger.[20] Users who promoted their product include iJustine, Smosh[21] and Nigahiga.[22]

Terrell Owens campaign

In December 2013, Carl's Jr. used flamboyant former NFL player, Terrell Owens, to promote its Philly Cheesesteak Burger.

All Natural campaign

In January 2015, Carl's Jr. released a commercial online featuring model Charlotte McKinney advertising its new All Natural Burger to air regionally during Super Bowl XLIX. The ad features McKinney walking around in a farmers' market, with it implied that she is "all natural" and uses double entendres to imply that she is naked with strategically-placed items in the market, until it reveals McKinney in a bikini eating the All Natural Burger. Critics suggest that the ad "sets feminism back four decades," while others including McKinney's elderly grandfather enjoyed the ad.[23][24][25] The ad didn't feature any Hardee's cobranding since the All Natural Burger isn't being offered by Hardee's.

Carl's Jr. also featured Los Angeles rock band RapScallions performing their song "Can You Feel It" with their fan's eating the All Natural Burger in the "Carl's Jr. Music Cam" campaign that aired on CBS Los Angeles and KCAL.[26]

International expansion

Canada

In June 2011, the restaurant chain opened its first Canadian location in Kelowna, British Columbia.[27] Since then, locations in Metro Vancouver have been opened; 25 are intended for that region.[28] In 2014, a location in Edmonton opened in a former Taco Bell. In September 2014 the first location in the province of Ontario opened up in Waterloo, Ontario and the second Ontario location opened up in Guelph in December 2014. Up to 30 restaurants will be opened in Ontario within five years with many of them expected to be in the Greater Toronto Area. New restaurants are coming soon to Guelph, Regina, Mississauga, downtown Toronto, Vancouver International Airport and Lloydminster.[29]

Due to a trademark dispute with the Canadian fast food chain Harvey's, CKE Restaurants cannot use the Hardee's name, but instead is permitted to open Carl's Jr. stores throughout the rest of Canada.[30]

Ecuador

As of December 2012, Carl's Jr. has 9 locations in 6 cities of Ecuador. The franchise is managed by Grupo El Rosado.[31]

Brazil

Carl's Jr. opened its first store in Brazil on November 29, 2012 at Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo, and in 7 years plans to open 25 more stores next to the traditional Brazilian restaurant, the Frango Assado, "Roast Chicken," which has 25 stores located in two states, on highways, airports and shopping center, which belongs to the group MIC.

México

Carl's Jr. opened its first restaurants in Mexico in 1992, in Monterrey and Tijuana, making México the first country outside the United States with Carl's presence.

Thailand

Carl's Jr re-entered the Thailand market after withdrawing a decade earlier. Carl's Jr's first Thailand location opened in June 2012 at the Central Festival Pattaya mall located between Pattaya Second and Beach Roads. The second location opened on September 28, 2012 on Sukhumvit Soi 24 in the 24th Avenue Mall, part The Davis Hotel complex, not far from Rama 4 Road in the Khlong Toei district of Bangkok. The third location will open at Thaniya Plaza on Silom Road, near the infamous Patpong Road. Carl's Jr Thailand is making a comeback with an aggressive business plan aimed at having 25 restaurants in five years.

The R&R Restaurant Group holds the rights to operate Carl's Jr in Thailand and plans to operate five Carl's Jr stores by year-end and nine more next year. On September 29, 2012 the Sukhumvit Soi 24 location had a promotion where the first 50 people in line when the restaurant opened at 11 a.m. would eat free for a year.

Vietnam

Around 2009, Carl's Jr. signed a deal with Tuan V. Do and Luu Tuyet Mai, CEO of MESA Company owned by them; to open the very first 25 restaurants in Vietnam. The Grand Opening in Ho Chi Minh City was in April 2010.[citation needed] Their first restaurant opened in the Vincom Centre, Ho Chi Minh City. A further restaurant located in Phu My Hung, District 7. Yet another is located at Pico plaza on Cong Hoa street.

Russia

Since opening their first Russian restaurant in 2006, Carl's Jr. has launched and continues to operate at least 28 locations in St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Saratov and Nizhnevartovsk, with plans to further expand in the Russian market.[32]

In Panama and Costa Rica

Carl's Jr. will also be opening a restaurant in Panama City, Panama and San José, Costa Rica in Central America In 2011.[33][34]

New Zealand

Carl's Jr. opened its first restaurant in New Zealand in October 2011, in Takanini. Its first television advertisement was banned for being "exploitative and degrading".[35] In February 2013 the chief executive of Carl's Jr's parent company CKE Restaurants said he would like to thank whoever it was that banned them, as it brought the chain exposure it could not otherwise have afforded.

Australia

CKE Restaurants has signed a development agreement with Australia's BKG Group to develop, open, and operate 10 Carl's Jr. restaurants in central, mid, and northern New South Wales. The first store is expected to open by the end of the year on the Central Coast. Franchises are currently being sought for capital cities, with an inner city location, most likely in Sydney, to open within the next 18 months.

Denmark

On April 5, 2013 Carl's Jr. announced a partnership with Danish Supermarket and their chain Bilka. As a result of the partnership Carl's Jr. will open stores inside some of the Bilka supermarkets located across Denmark. The first restaurants opened in the autumn of 2013 [36] First on October 10, 2013 in Næstved. [37] The second Carl's Jr opened in Vejle on November 17, 2013 [38]

Summer 2014 openings were planned for Aalborg and Kolding, and there are plans to expand to all of Denmark, after great initial success.[39]

Map showing the states with CKE restaurants. States with Carl's Jr. are in yellow, Hardee's in red, states with both in orange, and states with neither are in gray.

Indonesia

In Indonesia, Carl's Jr. is operated by Mahadya Group, a lifestyle consumer retail group under Mahadasha, a subsidiary of Tiara Marga Trakindo. The group currently operates 12 Carl's Jr. restaurants in the country, 9 in Jakarta and 3 in Surabaya.

Jakarta restaurants:

  • Central Park – LG
  • Grand Indonesia – West Mall LG
  • Summarecon Mal Serpong 2 – GF
  • Bintaro XChange – GF
  • Cinere Bellevue – UG
  • La Piazza Kelapa Gading – GF
  • Plaza Semanggi - UG
  • Jl Kemang Raya No. 93C
  • Jl Raden Inten No. 6

Surabaya Restaurants:

  • Kertajaya Indah no. 29
  • Juanda Airport – Terminal 2 1st Floor
  • Raya Darmo no. 12

Singapore

Operated in Singapore and Malaysia by Aspac F&B Pte Ltd.[40]

Malaysia

Operated in Singapore and Malaysia by Aspac F&B Pte Ltd.[40]

Japan

Carl's Jr. plans on opening up in Japan during the year 2015.[41]

Guatemala

Carl's Jr. opened its first store in Guatemala City in March 2015.[42]

Colombia

Carl's Jr. opened its first store in Bogota in May 2015.[43]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Carl's Jr premium burger chain prepares mass UK openings". BigHospitality.co.uk.
  2. ^ Hoovers.com. "CKE Restaurants, Inc". Hoovers.com. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
  3. ^ Hoovers.com. "McDonald's Corporation". Hoovers.com. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
  4. ^ Hoovers.com. "Burger King Holdings, Inc". Hoovers.com. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
  5. ^ Hoovers.com. "Wendy's International, Inc". Hoovers.com. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
  6. ^ "Carl's Jr.®". carlsjr.com.
  7. ^ Schlosser, Eric (2001). Fast Food Nation. HarperCollins.
  8. ^ a b "Carl's Jr. Unapologetic over Spicy Burger commercial". Money.cnn.com. 2005-06-01. Retrieved 2010-10-22.
  9. ^ blogdowntown.com. "Fast Food and Beer". Retrieved 2007-11-14.
  10. ^ Robinson-Jacobs, Karen (2009-02-17). "Carl's Jr. set to multiply in Dallas-Fort Worth". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
  11. ^ answers.com. "CKE Restaurants". Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  12. ^ "Carl's Jr.® - The Carl's Jr. Story". carlsjr.com.
  13. ^ "¡Están de trasteo! Las hamburguesas más 'sexys' del mundo llegan en febrero a Bogotá". pulzo.com.
  14. ^ Hoovers.com. "YUM! Brands, Inc". Hoovers.com. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
  15. ^ In the Southeast (north Carolina) they are co-branded as RED Burrito.Steve Johnson (2007-12-18). "Taco de Carlos, History of". Archived from the original on 2008-03-19. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
  16. ^ ChristianZ (2006-02-18). "Taco de Carlos, RIP". Retrieved 2008-03-11.
  17. ^ Grabert, Jessica (2012-09-01). "Watch The Uncut Version Of The Burger Commercial Featuring Playmate Sara Underwood". Cinemablend.com. Retrieved 2014-07-10.
  18. ^ Paris Hilton Returns in a New Carl's Jr. Commercial (07/24/2014)
  19. ^ "Carl's Jr.: The Most American Thickburger". Daily Commercials. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  20. ^ Hoyland, Christa (2009-07-06). "Carl's Jr. serves up new burger via YouTube". QSRWeb.com. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  21. ^ “”. "I Heart Burgers". YouTube. Retrieved 2010-10-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  22. ^ “”. "The Portobello Mushroom Burger". YouTube. Retrieved 2010-10-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ Racy Super Bowl ad draws controversy WTNH (01/22/2015)
  24. ^ NEWS/ Carl's Jr.'s New Super Bowl Commercial Featuring a Naked Model May Be Too Hot for TV! Watch Now E! (01/22/2015)
  25. ^ Charlotte McKinney's Dad 'Friggin' Loved' Her Carl's Jr. Super Bowl Commercial People (01/29/2015)
  26. ^ "Carl's Jr. Music Cam: Supperclub". cbslocal.com.
  27. ^ "Carl's Jr. Opens First Restaurant in Canada" (Press release). CKE Restaurants. June 22, 2011. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  28. ^ "Carl's Jr. set to open first of 25 Metro Vancouver restaurants". Business Vancouver. December 21, 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  29. ^ "Ontario welcomes first Carl's Jr. restaurant". September 16, 2014. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  30. ^ "Carl's Jr. set to launch in Ontario". Canadian Restaurant News.
  31. ^ Template:Es icon Ecuador es un mercado 'apetitoso' para franquicias. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  32. ^ "Carl's Jr.® Master Franchisee Bright Star, LLC Announces Subfranchising Deal for Russia". ckr.com.
  33. ^ "Novelasymas.com". novelasymas.com.
  34. ^ "Carl's Jr. Now Open in Panama". qsrmagazine.com.
  35. ^ Adams, Christopher (January 19, 2013). "Ruling puts bite on raunchy Carl's Jr ad". The New Zealand Herald.
  36. ^ "Ny udenlandsk burgerkæde indtager Danmark". avisen.dk.
  37. ^ "Dansk Supermarked - News". dansksupermarked.dk.
  38. ^ "Dansk Supermarked - Nyheder". dansksupermarked.dk.
  39. ^ "Dansk Supermarked vil åbne Bilka-restauranter over hele landet". detailfolk.dk.
  40. ^ a b https://www.linkedin.com/company/aspac-f&b-pte-ltd
  41. ^ http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Consumers/Carl-s-Jr.-burger-chain-putting-Japan-back-on-its-plate
  42. ^ Byron Dardón (March 26, 2015). "Carl's Jr. inaugura su primer local" (in Spanish). Retrieved April 2, 2015. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |trans_title= (help)
  43. ^ http://investor.ckr.com/press_releases/carls_jr
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