Why are these split the way they are?
I know that in the north you’ll find Hardees and Rally’s, and the south they’ll be Carl’s Jr and Checkers, but why are they split in the first place when they’re literally the same restaurant?
It would make sense if they were two separate entities that just happen to be owned by the same parent group, but in every facet of business they’re the same…they even have the same commercials!
There’s got to be a reason for it, anyone know it?
I seem to recall Carl’s Jr buying Hardees a few decades ago. So I think they started off as different companies, and when they merged, they kept the familiar brand names in each area.
Pretty sure this is it too. Hardee’s was bought by the same company that owns Carl’s Jr. in 1997, at which time the chain was well-established in the midwest and south, while Carl’s Jr. was more of a western state thing.
So I imagine they’re just keeping the original brand areas, based on what part of the country a particular market is considered to be in.
Same is true of Checkers, Schucks and Kragen auto parts store. One chain, identical “checkered flag” identity and look, three names for three regions. Not sure which one was original but the other two were acquired and re-imaged under the existing and familiar names.
Smart move. A brand freshening gains customers; a renaming often drives them away.
Compare and contrast with the idiotic decisions of Netflix in recent years…
Well, until all three were bought by O’Reilly and all existing locations were rebranded.
I live in NY and have never seen a Rally’s. Checkers are now all over the place with their nasty-assed mayo burgers.
Really? I haven’t seen any of them since leaving California (Kragen territory). Oh, well.
I think it was my first time in New Orleans that we got food from Rally’s. Maybe it was the second. (We were making films, and the schedule was brutal.) Pretty good burgers, especially for the price. When one opened up a few blocks from my apartment in L.A., across Venice from Culver City, I had it again. Not the best burgers, but pretty good and cheap. But I preferred the burgers at Carl’s Jr. and Del Taco. (Yes, sometimes I’d get a burger at Del Taco.)
Speaking of Del Taco, one of my favourite fast food places in my late-teens and 20s was Naugles. Naugles was bought out by Del Taco. Fortunately, they kept some good parts of the Naugles menu.
It’s also Checkers in Illinois. Used to love them, but it’s hard to find them anymore. Their big push in the Chicago market, at least, was some time in the early 90s. There used to be a bunch of locations, but now I can only think of one (although supposedly there are three total in the Chicago area, according to their store locator.)
There’s also the weird Bob’s Big Boy/Shonee’s Big Boy divide. Do they still exist?
I think OP has it backwards. They have Checkers here in NYC/vicinity; we had Rallys in Virginia.
Actually, I spoke too soon. Apparently, Illinois also has Rally’s, so it looks like we’re a state with both Checkers and Rally’s. Indiana has Rally’s, as does Michigan.
There was a Naugles just off campus when I was in high school. Loved their refried beans. The only problem I had with the chain was how to pronounce it without sounding stupid.
Del Taco actually makes a pretty good burger.
When I was a kid my family traveled by car from California to Massachusetts, and we noticed lots of “Big Boy” restaurants across the country. They all had the same menu, the same mascot, but different names. It was always “Bob’s” in California, and I recall “Shoney’s” and “Frisch’s.” Were there any more?
I always wondered if they were franchised or owned by different family members or what. Anybody know?
Huh. I wish I had known that during the approximately five minutes a few years ago there was a Del Taco here in the Chicago area. I did manage to try (and enjoy) their fish tacos, though.
The wife of a friend of mine said it like a whinnying horse. ‘Na-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-gles!’
So, It’s safe to assume that you shot her, right? 
Checkers here in Georgia, but there used to be Rallys in Virginia.
I had Rally’s in the midwest, and then saw Checkers when I was in Alabama/Florida.
I also think I was just told by “them” that it was a north/south thing
In the 80s, Rally’s was here in Arizona for a brief time. I loved their fries.