cent. Operators were focusing their marketing on strategies emphasizing "family values" and family togetherness, and these concepts were reflected in menus, marketing, and staff training (Bartlett, 1995, 44-48).
In some areas of the country, increases in sales were much greater than in others, and regional chains have been responsible for much of the surge. National brands like McDonald's compete with regional brands like Carl's Jr. in California or Whataburger in Texas. Carl's Jr. began as a chain of hamburger stores in 1956, growing out of the existing restaurants owned and operated by Carl Karcher. He started his first restaurant in 1941, a hot-dog stand purchased for $350. He opened more hot-dog stands before adding hamburgers. He was operating a full-sized restaurant in the Anaheim in the fifties called Carl's Drive-In Barbecue. In 1956 Karcher opened two smaller restaurants and called them Carl's Jr., which is the reason for the name the chain still carries (Barrier,
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