80-Year-Old Chain Sparks New Growth Abroad

CKE Restaurants’ Carl’s Jr. opened its first unit in the United Kingdom this month, officially kicking off its partnership with master franchisee Boparan Restaurant Group. Longer term, BRG has additional units planned for the U.K. and Republic of Ireland.

The premiere unit is located in a mall in Cardiff, Wales. Within an hour of its April 3 opening, the store saw over 200 transactions.

Rodrigo de la Torre, interim president of CKE Int’l, says, “This was one of our most successful openings in Europe to-date and we look forward to seeing Boparan’s continued success.”

As of last year, Carl’s Jr.’s European presence included nearly 100 restaurants across Spain, France, Denmark, Turkey and Switzerland. Franklin, Tenn.-based CKE—also the parent company of Hardee’s—operates more than 1,100 international restaurants in over 35 countries around the world.

Besides Carl’s Jr., BRG operates Slim Chickens, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, FishWorks, Carluccio’s, Caffe Carluccio’s, Giraffe, Ed’s Easy Diner and Cinnamon Collection.