Potential Sponsor Background and History

Potential Sponsor Background and History:

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  September 9, 1960: Hardees Restaurants modestly began in Greenville, North Carolina, when founder Wilber Hardee opened the first restaurant of the soon to be franchise.
  
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  May 1961: The first company store was opened in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, where it remained the corporate headquarters until 2001.
  
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  The early Hardees restaurants had hexagonal shaped buildings, and the hamburger patties resembled the hexagonal shapes for a period of time.
  
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  1965: The restaurant had four signs at their restaurants between 1965-1968: "Home of the Huskee", "Jet Service - Charco Broiled" Burgers, “Hardee's L'il Chef”, and "Yogi Bear's Fried Chicken."  
  

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  In the 70s, Hardees restaurants became well known for their breakfast biscuits dubbed as the “Made From Scratch” biscuit that they strongly branded for years to come.
  
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  Breakfast was a huge selling point and market differentiator for the company in the early part of its history. They knew, however, with McDonalds, Burger King and Wendys beginning to follow the “Bigger is Better” reagrding sandwiches, fries, and drinks, Hardees had to adapt if it wanted to stay alive.
  
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  Thus, in the late 1990s, the innovative new look company released the “Thickburger” line of products that changed the positioning of their brand in the fast food market.
  

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  Hardees restaurants expanded to over 4,000 locations in the United States, but as many other prominent companies in the 80s were, they were bought by Imasco in 1981.
  
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  The new management of the restaurant in 1981 began to change the fundamental recipes of the charco-broiled burgers that had been a major factor in their success. Fresh recipes were replaced by frozen foods and cheaper alternatives in order to cut costs.
  

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  Hardee’s began to experiment with a few different food alternatives in the 90s, most notably acquiring the fried chicken recipe from Roy Rodgers chain. They began to serve fried chicken, with the traditional sides, and became a competitor with Arby’s.
  
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  With around 2,000 nationwide locations, in 1997, CKE Restaurants acquired Hardees.
  

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  In 2001, Hardees headquarter location moved from Rocky Mount, North Carolina to downtown St. Louis, Missouri.
  
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  They are currently owned by CKE Restaurants INC, which is the parent company to four restaurants, which include Green Burrito, Red Burrito, Carl’s Jr, and Hardees nationwide. Hardee’s remains in the fifth spot on the fast food restaurant rankings, behind, Subway, McDonalds, Burger King and Wendy’s.
  
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  As of 2010, there were over 3,141 CKE Restaurants located around the world, with 1,905 Hardees Restaurants, and 1,224 Carl’s Jr. Restaurants.