Wilbur Hardee founded Hardee’s and opened the first restaurant in Greenville, North Carolina in 1960.  The idea was to serve manly menu items like the Huskee and other items that were considered large and manly.  Wilbur lost the controlling share of his company to James Carson Gardner and Leonard Rawls in a game of poker, and then sold the rest of his shared to them as well.  The company grew rapidly during the 1970s due to the purchase of Sandy’s in 1972 and the purchase of Dee’s drive-in as well.  Hardee’s was known for purchasing other smaller chains in order to grow their concept across the nation.  By 1992, the chain had over 4,000 locations and had gone international.  In 1997 they were sold to CKE Restaurants who also owned Carl’s Jr. They are still expanding today with over 3,000 company owned stores.

The Hardee’s menu is most well-known for their burgers and they started off with a hexagon shaped burger.  It is no longer hexagon shaped, but they have stuck with the burger and are well-known for serving the Thickburger today.  They also serve a variety of chicken sandwiches, chicken tenders, hot dogs, and more. Hardee’s is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and they carry a variety of beverages and desserts as well.  They serve combo meals that come with fries and a drink and they also have limited time burgers and sandwiches.

Hardee’s is looking for franchisees with a net worth of at least $1,000,000 and liquid assets of at least $300,000.  The do require that a franchisee has previous restaurant experience and they prefer previous franchise experience.  As a franchisee you must commit to opening at least 3 locations and the franchise fee for the first two is $25,000, while the third is $20,000.   There is also a $10,000 development fee and you will pay 4% of the gross sales as a royalty fee as well.  They estimate the total initial investment to be $1.1 million not including the real estate.  You have to go through a 12 week training program to open a Hardee’s and you will have a 20 year franchise agreement.