'Interesting choice': Why a restaurant's new Fayetteville location caused a stir online
A new location for a fast-food restaurant in Fayetteville caused a stir on social media late last month.
Some residents were surprised to see a new Hardee’s under construction on Cliffdale Road because the North Carolina-born burgers and breakfast chain has closed a handful of area stores in recent years.
“We all see Hardee's closing left and right so a new one seems like an interesting choice,” one comment on the Fayetteville Foodies Facebook page read in part.
At least five Fayetteville Hardee’s restaurants have closed since 2016:
A location at Skibo and Raeford roads closed Dec. 31, 2022. The building remains vacant.
The Gillespie Street Hardee’s closed during the pandemic. Great Grandsons Meat & 3 opened at the site in July.
A Yadkin Road Hardee’s of more than 40 years closed in 2019. A car dealership later opened on the property.
The Hardee’s at Tallywood on Raeford Road closed in October 2018. A Biscuitville was built on the site.
A location at Reilly and Morganton roads closed in 2016; Niko's FreshEates SeaFood took over the spot in 2020. Niko's closed earlier this year.
Another closing? Longtime Murchison Road market known for steamed seafood shutters after 12 years in business
Mike Boddie, president of Hardee’s largest franchisee, Boddie-Noell Enterprises, which owns about 330 Hardee’s in the Carolinas, Virginia and Kentucky, said that closing underperforming locations while opening new ones is part of a strategy to stay profitable.
As the city’s traffic patterns change, business at some Hardee’s locations take a hit and the stores are closed, he said. The company then opens stores in areas with more traffic.
“We’ve got stores that have been around a long time, and the town moves away from them, so we close them and move them somewhere else,” Boddie said.
For example, he said, Boddie’s family opened the first Fayetteville Hardee’s on Bragg Boulevard in 1962. As the commercial epicenter of the city moved to Cross Creek Mall when it opened in 1975, the restaurant followed.
Restaurant news: Fayetteville all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant closes after eight months in business
Similarly, the Hardee’s at 8139 Cliffdale Road in the Montibello Shopping Center, slated to open in December, is situated within two miles of three new housing developments totaling 585 houses and townhomes.
Its proximity to Food Lion is another asset to the location, he said.
“We build by Food Lions and usually do pretty good,” he said. “That’s our customer, too.”
The Cliffdale Hardee’s will have a two-lane drive-thru and a small dining room and will offer delivery on third-party apps like DoorDash and UberEats. The store is expected to hire about 55 employees.
Food, dining and business reporter Taylor Shook can be reached at tshook@gannett.com, on Twitter, or Facebook. Want weekly food news delivered to your inbox? Sign up for the Fayetteville Foodies newsletter.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: After closing some Fayetteville stores, Hardee's builds new location
