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The former Hardee's quick service restaurant, Hardee's #1, at 431 East Kennedy Street, Spartanburg, South Carolina 29302-1915, has been demolished. The restaurant opened in Octover 1961 as the first Hardee's in Spartanburg and the first to be franchised. (Its franchisee, Jerry Richardson, owns the National Football League's Carolina Panthers.) It closed in February 2004.
The former Hardee's quick service restaurant, Hardee's #1, at 431 East Kennedy Street, Spartanburg, South Carolina 29302-1915, has been demolished. The restaurant opened in Octover 1961 as the first Hardee's in Spartanburg and the first to be franchised. (Its franchisee, Jerry Richardson, owns the National Football League's Carolina Panthers.) It closed in February 2004.
At one time, Spartan Food Systems owned by Jerry Richardson was the largest franchisor of Hardee's. The company later became Flagstar and also owned Denny's and the late lamented Quincy's Steakhouse, famous for their yeast rolls. I believe there may be one surviving Quincy's restaurant down in Toccoa, Georgia and is now owned by Western Sizzlin', another popular but declining franchise.
Back in the Spartan Foods era, Hardee's was based in Rocky Mount, NC and had famous thin patty style charco-broiled burgers, known as the Deluxe Huskee and Huskee Jr. The Huskee Jr. had a sweet 1000 Island type sauce and double patties similar to a Big Mac, but with a char-broiled taste. Later in the 80's, Hardee's abandoned the charbroilers and these burgers became the Big Deluxe and the Big Twin. Abandoning the charbroil was a big mistake, and the Hardee's daypart menu began to decline by the 90's. Their breakfast biscuits became their main menu success.
During the 90's Hardee's acquired Roy Rogers from Marriott and added fried chicken to its menu. But it made the mistake of not upgrading to the Roy Rogers roast beef and burger menu, rather than continuing the inferior Hardee's food menu. And converting Roy Rogers to an inferior Hardee's brand proved a disaster in the Mid Atlantic and Northeast region.
After this failed merger, the Roy Rogers brand was restored, keeping only the Hardee's breakfast menu. This was the best combination of the 2 brands, featuring Roy Rogers roast beef, burgers, and fried chicken, and Hardee's breakfast biscuits. If this strategy had been originally adopted, keeping the best of both menus with the Roy's name in the Northeast and the Hardee's name in the South, then the merger would not have likely been such a failure. Same combined menu, but different names based upon region.
This is the current strategy that CKE adopted after acquiring Hardee's, by keeping the familiar Hardee's name in the South and Midwest, and Carl's Jr. on the West coast. And the char-broiled burgers were returned. Meanwhile, Roy Rogers is now an independent franchise that is successfully restoring the brand in Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey.
Did another retail service occupy this site after Hardee's?
Not that I can recall.. When Flagstar owned it.. They were rather protective of this unit and the one that was over almost in Boiling Springs at the Flagstar building over there.
This one they equipped with all the vintage signage and was a completely different look than the standard Hardee's.
I do wish Hardee's would return the Carl's Jr. flagship burger the Superstar with Cheese, a thin patty double burger with mayo and special red relish sauce, and the Big Carl, which is like the old Hardee's Big Twin double burger with the 1000 Island sauce. Their current Classic Double Cheeseburger has the 1000 Island sauce, but is smaller size patties and also adds tomato and onions. And I don't think they no longer use the old Roy Rogers chicken recipe, but a few franchise Hardee's in Virginia may still offer fried chicken.
Hardee's #1, at 431 East Kennedy Street, Spartanburg, South Carolina 29302-1915
Quote:
Originally Posted by tylerSC
What are the future plans for the demolished Hardee's location in Spartanburg?
I have not heard plans for redeveloping the site. I doubt East Kennedy Street is friendly to quick service restaurants as it is not a major thoroughfare.
At one time, Spartan Food Systems owned by Jerry Richardson was the largest franchisor of Hardee's. The company later became Flagstar and also owned Denny's and the late lamented Quincy's Steakhouse, famous for their yeast rolls. I believe there may be one surviving Quincy's restaurant down in Toccoa, Georgia and is now owned by Western Sizzlin', another popular but declining franchise.
There's a Quincy's in Florence, SC, right beside Interstate 95.
I wonder if Western Sizzlin' would consider expanding throughout Ryan's many former locations.
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Hardee's #1, 431 East Kennedy Street, Spartanburg, South Carolina 29302-1915
