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The fact that Carl Karcher turned 7 in January hasn't lessened his keen interest in the unit-level operations of Carl's Jr., the chain he founded and nurtured from a single hot-dog stand on a Los Angeles street comer in 1941 to a major regional fast-food company with some 670 units in five Western states. In fact, Karcher said he plans to visit personally at least 300 of his company's restaurants this year.
Karcher, who was raised on a farm in Ohio and did not have formal schooling beyond the eighth grade, is credited not only with growing a successful business with little more than an entrepreneurial spirit but also with bringing many innovations to the fast-food business along the way.
They include drive-thru windows -- which now account for half the business in many fast-food restaurants -- carpeted dining rooms, cushioned seats, brick facades, conveyor broilers, limited table service, salad bars, all-you-can-drink beverage bars, broiled-chicken-breast sandwiches and a chainwide no-smoking policy in company-owned restaurants.
Karcher, who is fiercely proud of his accomplishments, also notes that he was the first to introduce Western-style hamburgers with bacon, which now have a place on the menus of most major burger chains.
According to Ray Perry, who worked with Karcher as an executive vice president from 1986 to 1991 and is now chief...