CARPINTERIA, Calif. – CKE Restaurants is leaving the Golden State for Music City. The parent company of Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. recently announced plans to consolidate its headquarters operations in Carpinteria and St. Louis, Missouri, into one office in Nashville. The move comes after a successful refranchising initiative.
“Following our recent re-franchising initiative, over 90 percent of our restaurants are now franchise-owned, including the restaurants in St. Louis and Santa Barbara Counties that were formerly company-owned,” a CKE representative said in a statement to MEAT+POULTRY. “Being highly franchised has also reduced our office space needs and, thus, made consolidating offices a more viable option.”
The statement went on to say that the consolidation of offices in Carpinteria and St. Louis will begin early next year, and approximately 75 employees at each of the two locations will be affected.
CKE chose Nashville because the city is centrally located “… and is one of the markets where we have retained company-owned restaurants.” Tennessee also has no individual income tax.
CKE owns, operates and franchises more than 3,300 Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s, Green Burrito and Red Burrito restaurants in 42 states and 28 countries. The company recently opened its first Carl’s Jr. location in Tokyo, and it will be run by Carl’s Jr. Japan Inc., a subsidiary of Mistuuroko Group Holdings Co., Ltd. Atlanta-based private-equity firm Roark Capital Group acquired CKE in 2013.
