Congratulations to our parent company, Boddie Noell Enterprises for celebrating their first 50 years in business! 

Bill Boddie, President and CEO of Boddie Noell, shares some of the hostory behind this 50 year legacy:

In June 1961, our founders Mayo and Nick Boddie along with their uncle, Carleton Noell, began a new journey when they signed their first franchise agreements to open Hardee’s restaurants in three North Carolina locations – Fayetteville, Kinston, and Roanoke Rapids.  As with most entrepreneurs, they didn’t exactly know what was ahead of them but they were driven by the excitement of owning and running their own business.

Fifty years ago “today“ on January 20, 1962, they opened their first Hardee’s restaurant on Bragg Blvd. in Fayetteville, NC.  The restaurant opened at 6:00 pm, closed at 12:15 am and sales for that day were a whopping $181.51!  Actually, not too bad considering they were only open 6 hours and 15 minutes with a simple menu andthe following prices - Hamburger: 15 cents, Cheesburger: 20 cents, Fries: 10 cents, Soda: 10 cents, Shake: 20 cents.  So, an average per customer check was approximately 45 cents…..that’s right…..45 cents!!  During those first 6 hours, they sold 614 hamburgers, 230 french fries and 357 soft drinks.

Little did our founders know that the opening of this one restaurant in Fayetteville would not only lead them to become the largest Hardee’s franchisee in the system but also, more importantly, to the development of the Boddie-Noell Family that has touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.  Thank God for our country and its free enterprise system that allowed them and many others to strive for their dreams.