Carl’s Jr. Aims to Woo Diners With Progressive Architecture

Seeking to bolster its image as a purveyor of higher-end fast food, Carl’s Jr. has unveiled a futuristic prototype restaurant the company hopes will distinguish the chain from other hamburger spots.

With its 20-foot-high angled ceiling, skylights and glass and chrome exterior, the Jetson-esque store in Downey opened to the public this month. The restaurant will be a model for future construction in areas where the steeply pitched roof design is acceptable to the developer and local government officials, according to Santa Barbara-based CKE Restaurants Inc., which owns Carl’s Jr. and its Midwestern cousin, Hardee’s.

“This is a long way from the hot dog cart,” quipped 86-year-old Carl N. Karcher at the new store last week. Karcher founded CKE from a Los Angeles wiener cart in 1941.

At about 3,000 square feet, the new store is slightly smaller than the typical Carl’s Jr. and seats as many as 86 diners, said Renea Hutchings, executive vice president of development and franchise sales. The new design features a rounded pathway for motorists who use the drive-through window, which generates almost half the company’s sales.

The company plans to build one or two more restaurants like it this year in the West and to remodel the interiors with the futuristic look at as many as 40 of the 987 Carl’s Jr. restaurants, most in California.

Carl’s Jr. and other fast-food chains have been casting about for ways to increase market share as changing American tastes have slowed the growth of burger sales. The company has opted out of the discounting wars that have pounded profits at McDonald’s and Burger King, and has tried to position itself as a premium burger emporium.

The new look, which was conceived 18 months ago, is designed to help further that image, company officials said.

But with only one suburban Los Angeles location, and no plans for wholesale demolition and rebuilding of the existing restaurants, analysts said the new design will be of limited value in the short run.

“It’s not going to be that visible because there won’t be very many with that design,” said Anton J. Brenner, who covers CKE for Newport Beach-based Roth Capital Partners. “It’ll be a long while before you see a large portion of Carl’s stores with that design.

“Ultimately, it’s the food that will bring in the people, not the shape of the building,” Brenner said.

Company officials declined to reveal the cost of the project, saying it was in line with current industry averages and did not require a significant increase in the company’s capital expenditure budget.

CKE shares gained 5 cents Friday to close at $3.85 on the New York Stock Exchange.