Hardee’s is preparing for a sweeping retrenchment that will erase dozens of restaurants from the map by the end of the year, concentrating the impact in a cluster of Southern and Plains states. The closures stem from a major franchisee’s decision to shut down all of its locations, a move that will reshape where fans can still find the chain’s biscuits and burgers.
For customers in affected communities, the change will be abrupt: 77 restaurants are slated to go dark, and in some states every franchised Hardee’s operated by this group will disappear. The result is a patchwork of counties and small towns that will lose a familiar roadside stop almost overnight.
Which states are losing Hardee’s locations
The shutdown centers on a group of franchised restaurants spread across eight states, many of them in the Southeast. According to company statements and franchise disclosures, the locations are in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina and Wyoming, a footprint that stretches from the Gulf Coast to the northern Rockies. In an emailed statement to Dec business reporters, Hardee’s Restaurants confirmed that all of the franchised restaurants run by this operator in those states will close by the end of the year, meaning entire local markets in places like Montana, South Carolina and Wyoming will lose their Hardee’s presence at once, as detailed in a corporate communication cited by Hardee.
The affected restaurants are operated by ARC Burger, a franchisee that built a regional network of Hardee’s outlets across these eight states. Company materials list ARC Burger’s locations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina and Wyoming, underscoring how concentrated the closures will be in communities that relied on this single operator. By confirming that ARC Burger will wind down its entire portfolio, Hardee’s Restaurants has effectively acknowledged that dozens of small towns and highway interchanges in these states will lose their familiar yellow star signage in one coordinated wave, a reality reflected in franchise disclosures about ARC Burger’s territory.
How many restaurants are closing and why it matters
The scale of the retrenchment is stark. A major Hardee franchisee is closing 77 restaurants, a figure that has been repeated across legal filings and local reports as the company prepares to exit the system. One legal summary described the move as a decision by a “Major” Hardee operator to shutter “over 70” locations, specifying that the total number of restaurants affected is 77 and that they are spread across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina and Wyoming. That same account linked the closures to a broader dispute that has pushed the franchisee to unwind its holdings, framing the shutdown of “70” plus units as part of a larger legal and financial reckoning for the operator, according to reporting on the 77 closures.
Consumer focused coverage has echoed that total, noting that 77 Hardee’s have been closed or are slated to close as the franchisee winds down operations. According to these accounts, the restaurants are located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina and Wyoming, and the shutdowns will unfold over the course of the year rather than in a single day. One report put it plainly, stating that, According to company statements and local notices, 77 Hardee’s locations tied to this operator will no longer be serving customers once the process is complete, a tally that underscores how many workers and regulars will be affected across the eight states, as summarized in a breakdown that begins, “According to reports, 77 Hardee’s have been closed,” and lists Alabama, Florida and Georgia among the hardest hit markets in the 77 figure.
Local business coverage has also emphasized the geographic spread of the closures, pointing out that the restaurants are located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina and Wyoming and that many of them are long standing fixtures in small communities. One widely shared summary explained that the restaurants are located in these eight states and that the sudden nature of the decision has left some employees and customers scrambling to adjust, reinforcing the sense that this is not a slow attrition but a coordinated pullback. By the end of the year, diners in these regions who are used to grabbing a biscuit on the way to work or a burger on a long drive will find their nearest Hardee’s dark, a shift captured in reports that describe how the chain “suddenly” shuttered 77 locations across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina and Wyoming in a move that ripples through local economies, as outlined in a regional analysis of the Alabama and Florida markets.
More from Willow and Hearth:
Leave a Reply