Burger chain Carl’s Jr to open first stand-alone Queensland store

AN AMERICAN favourite fast-food chain known for its racy advertising is ramping up in Queensland, with the first of up to eight stand-alone restaurants to open on Thursday. But for once, inner-city Brisbane isn’t the first in line.

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A MAJOR American hamburger chain will begin its Queensland invasion on Thursday when it opens the first of up to eight stand-alone restaurants it plans to rollout this year.

Carl’s Jr at Redbank Plains will open to the public tomorrow morning and the company behind the franchise has earmarked the Gold Coast, Toowoomba, Townsville and Rockhampton for their next locations.

A Big Burger from American fast-food chain Carl’s Jr at Redbank Plains.

The Bansal Group general manager Shawn Kerr said the company had deliberately targeted regional areas as they wanted to first establish the brand in Queensland before seeking out metropolitan locations.

He said, while Carl’s Jr was a global brand and well known among Australians who have visited the USA, Queenslanders are not overly familiar with the name or the Smiling Star logo.

Sydney model Gemie Howe in a Carl’s Jr advertisement.

“We want to be a destination restaurant and we want to establish the brand as an entity,” he said.

“Everyone knows our opposition by name, but when people say Carl’s Jr they don’t immediately think flame-grilled hamburgers and we have to work on that.

“We will be going into metro areas but we want to give ourselves the best opportunity for success and get our branding right and you don’t want to rely solely on CBD locations for survival.”

The Redbank Plains store features both dine-in and drive-through options.

The Carl’s Jr restaurant at Redbank Plains is the first stand-alone outlet in Queensland, however it’s not the first in the Sunshine State.

A “kiosk” style Carl’s Jr store operates at Brisbane Airport.

The restaurant chain was founded by entrepreneurs Carl and Margaret Karcher in the 1940s after they bought a hot dog cart.

At Carl’s Jr, it’s not rubbish, it’s trash.

Before long they had four hot dog stands and then a restaurant where they added hamburgers to the menu.

The first two Carl’s Jr hamburger restaurants opened in the 1950s in California and Mr Kerr said the Queensland outlets were “unashamedly American” and even the rubbish bins are signed, “trash”.

“Our age demographic is 18-36-year old’s,” Mr Kerr said. “We are unashamedly American and that’s the brand.”

The Carl’s Jr range features both American favourites and a few items unique to Australia. Picture: Troy Snook

The Redbank Plains restaurant has 110 employees and has at least two unique Australian offerings, compared to the US outlets, which includes the Portobello Mushroom burger and chilli cheese fries.

Mr Kerr said they had their eye on a site at Woolloongabba while their next stand-alone store would open on the Gold Coast at Pimpana.

“We are going into Toowoomba shortly, Rocky, Townsville and hopefully Cairns,” he said.

Bansal Group general manager Shawn Kerr, with Bansal Group director Gaurav Bansal and restaurant manager Sam Gibson.

It’s the second major fast-food chain to open in Queensland in the past few months following Taco Bell opening a store at Annerley late last year.

The Taco Bell store has been a raging success and came after franchisee, Queensland-based company Collins Foods, conducted secret tastings at Rocklea’s Brisbane Marketplace.

The Mexican restaurant also offers free wi-fi and USB charging stations.

The purpose built outlet sits on the site of a former Sizzler restaurant and is the first Taco Bell stand alone restaurant in Australia and the first ever in Queensland.